


Into Their World

by Writer_Markilyn



Series: Into Our World [1]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Baby Baek happens bc Tree of Life said so, Current Exo, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Light Angst, Fluff and Smut, Leading into Post-EXO, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Mpreg, No superpowers sorry, Older!EXO, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent!Baekhyun, Parent!Chanyeol, Pregnant Sex, Pregnant!Baekhyun, Protective!Chanyeol, Smut, Supportive!EXO, Sweet Park Chanyeol, Unplanned Pregnancy, detailed pregnancy, prequel to other fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-06-18 07:17:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 65,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15480465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writer_Markilyn/pseuds/Writer_Markilyn
Summary: Life was getting a little stressful for Baekhyun because he was concerned of his and Chanyeol's futures.  He was mostly stressed because EXO was coming to an end and soon his closest and best of friends were going to go out and do their own things and be starting a new chapter of their lives.  Baekhyun worried about his next chapter of life, but he didn't expect his next chapter of his life to start so soon and watch his newest chapter develop from within him for nine months.This fic is the back story to "Into Our World"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because I can NEVER get the ordering right, this is part 2 of the "Into Our World" series. 
> 
> This is a back story to the future ChanBaek fic that I had wrote previously: "Into Our World"
> 
> This fic will be multiple chapters leading up to their child's birth and be prepared, these chapters will be voluminous, so updates will be very slow, so I apologize in advance for that. I also will take time and research for this fic to make it realistic as possible, despite, you know, Baekhyun being a guy and can't actually have children, but this is a fic....sooo yay, magical babies! 
> 
> I wrote this because I was very happy with the wonderful responses that I got for my first ChanBaek fic, so I hope this one won't disappoint!
> 
> Thank you all very much!!~

The group knew that this was coming, their ten-year contract was coming to an end and they were all silently debating if they were going to sign on for another five years or if they were going to go do their own projects; it was the biggest decision they were going to have to make as a group and as individuals.

Baekhyun was turning 29 within just under a month, he reflected on that harsh reality, but he wouldn’t whine about his age, at least not out loud as Minseok had turned 31 two-weeks ago.  He rolled on his bed until he was on his back and closed his eyes and threw an arm over his closed eyes as he had a small crisis; it wasn’t as if he was in a bad position after EXO had retired, he had a degree in marketing and art for his clothing line brand, and he knew the others would be okay too.

Kyungsoo had continued his acting career and undoubtfully, he’d stay on that path until he was worn out and where Kyungsoo went, Jongin was bound to follow after; the two had become official almost two years ago, around the same time Chanyeol and Baekhyun were getting serious about their own relationship.

Baekhyun grimaced at the joke Yixing had made over Facetime when they shared the news with him, he remained in China with his own solo career and radio show; he said that they’d probably have children around the same time too and demanded that they send him pictures. 

He let out another low sigh and didn’t bother to uncover his eyes when he heard the desk chair in his and Chanyeol’s room creak and soon he felt the warmth and muscled weight of his boyfriend drape across him, “You’re not small like you used to be,” Baekhyun grumbled, peering at Chanyeol from under his arm.

“And somehow you still are,” Chanyeol teased him.  He kissed his chin as that was currently the only exposed part of Baekhyun’s face, “You’ve been sighing rather a lot lately, what cloud looms over you?”

“Oh, you know, just the crippling fear of our futures,” Baekhyun sarcastically responded.  He muffled his groan in the crook of his elbow, “Chan, I’m so worried about our future.”

Chanyeol tilted his head curiously, “Why?  We’re going to be fine, you’re having a steady income with your clothing line and you’ll still have money come in after EXO for quite a while,” he said.  He had reviewed the packet their company had given them all and showed what they’d be getting after their group was officially retired and he was glad that they would be able to live comfortably or go back to school and still be fine.  He had went back to school to get his bachelor’s in art for music and he was pondering on what he’d do next, other than asking Baekhyun’s hand in marriage, but that would come later; they had only been dating around for two and half years, but they’d known each other since their late teenage years.

“It’s not that,” Baekhyun sighed as he finally uncovered his eyes.  He plucked the square rimmed glasses from Chanyeol’s face and put them on and he scrunched up his nose when his sight was blurry, and he heard Chanyeol laugh before taking them back.

“Unlike you, you hipster, I actually need them to see,” Chanyeol mused, he rolled onto his side so that Baekhyun could curl up next to him.

“Because you’re old, Yeollie,” Baekhyun reminded him, poking him in the ribs.

“Yah, you’re almost 8 months older than me!” Chanyeol huffed, now pinning Baekhyun down, who giggled and squirmed to get away.  “Besides,” He grumbled, letting Baekhyun go, “we’re not old, we’re still young.”

“We’re going to be 30 in a year,” Baekhyun whined.

“So we’re at a slow crawl with adulthood, it happens,” Chanyeol shrugged.  “Is that what’s been bothering you for the last week?  You’re worrying Jongdae into early gray hair.”

“No…I know we’re going to be fine, I’m just worried about everyone in general,” Baekhyun frowned.  “I know Yixing has his life settled in China, Kyungsoo and Jongin are a package deal and Kyungsoo won’t let anything happen to Jongin, JunMyeon said he’s going to take over for his father’s company, Jongdae and Minseok are going to go do that travel thing or whatever…I’m extra worried about Sehun.”

Chanyeol hummed, “I briefly overheard him talking to Jongin about traveling to China and staying there for a couple months or so, I don’t know if he plans on seeing just Yixing or if he’s going to go see Luhan, Tao, or Kris.”

Baekhyun just frowned more at that, Sehun had become slightly distant towards them all and none of them knew why, unless he was just extremely upset at the thought of them all leaving EXO.  He felt Chanyeol kiss his forehead and started to rub his back slowly, “I can worry, can’t I?”

“Yes, just don’t worry yourself to the point of sickness,” Chanyeol chided him.  He hummed softly, one of their slower songs that usually calmed Baekhyun from a panicky fit, as for some reason, he got extremely nervous randomly and was prone to breakdowns now; he wasn’t for sure where it had come from either.

Jongin told him it was most likely stress related, because Kyungsoo had those moments as well, and Baekhyun tried to not stress so much, especially when Chanyeol was around, because his boyfriend would worriedly loom. 

Baekhyun sighed slowly and tucked his face against Chanyeol’s chest, “Wake me for dinner, won’t you?"

“I’ll never get in your way of food,” Chanyeol mused, nuzzling the top of Baekhyun’s auburn dyed hair and went back to humming Baekhyun to sleep.

~~~

It was almost three weeks later after his talk with Chanyeol, and Baekhyun wondered if he had actually heeded his own advice _once_ to remain calm, but apparently not, because he was down with stomach pains, slight bloating, exhaustion, and it felt like his sinuses were acting up too.

All this had triggered Chanyeol into a fretting mess, as Baekhyun didn’t get sick often and it was nerve-racking to see the mostly bubbly person of his life buried under blankets and have a trash bin near their bed.

“Baek, you need to at least try to sip some broth,” Chanyeol pleaded, he sat on the edge of the bed closest to his boyfriend, he cradled a bowl of Miso broth for him, he had placed two Gatorades on the bedside table, but only one had been sipped on.  He was getting worried to the point that he was about to take Baekhyun to the hospital, especially when it had been nearly a week and his boyfriend was showing signs of being fine, before going back to his lethargic state.

Baekhyun slowly pulled the blanket down until only his eyes were showing, “I will throw it back up.”

“Please,” Chanyeol begged.  He set the bowl on the bedside table when Baekhyun refused to budge, the frown on his face was saddening enough that Baekhyun felt tears starting to form in his eyes, “Baekhyun?”

“I’m sorry for making you worry so much,” Baekhyun’s voice shook and he rolled onto his side, hugging his middle lightly.  “It just has been to be stress.”

“Either way, I’m taking you to your doctor, this has gone on for too long and your health keeps flipping back and forth, it can’t be good for you,” Chanyeol stated, he gently placed his hand on the curve of Baekhyun’s side.

Baekhyun silently agreed, giving a slow nod that was barely visible due to the covers over him.  He felt Chanyeol’s touch remain even when there was light knock of their bedroom door and he heard it open softly.

Chanyeol was greeted by Jongdae, who worriedly looked between him and Baekhyun, “Hey,” he responded. 

“Um, Suho wants to know if either of you are up to coming to dinner tonight?” Jongdae asked hesitantly.  He knew that Chanyeol had a protective streak and it only increased after he and Baekhyun had formed a relationship, and judging by the way Chanyeol was eyeing him, he immediately regretted his question; he should have just made JunMyeon ask himself.

“Yeollie,” Baekhyun slowly turned over and uncovered his face, “you need to go eat too, don’t waste away because of me.”

“But you’re not eating either,” Chanyeol frowned, he looked at the untouched Miso broth.  He watched Baekhyun sit still for a moment before the shorter man started to scoot himself up, he instantly started to help Baekhyun sit up and fluffed the pillows behind him, “I’ll grab your desk tray,” he said and walked towards Baekhyun’s closet.

Jongdae shared a look with Baekhyun, he gave a halfhearted amused grin at the other main vocalist, mostly he was just worried because Baekhyun got sick, _he got sick_ , to the point where they rest the group thought he needed to stay in the hospital. 

Chanyeol returned with the desk tray and unfolded the small legs from under it and settled it over Baekhyun’s lap, “Small bites, Baek, don’t upset your stomach more than it is,” he stated firmly.

“Yes, _umma_ ,” Baekhyun rolled his eyes and he heard Chanyeol scoff at him; if he hadn’t been feeling so horrible, he imagined Chanyeol would have slapped his arm.  He spooned some broth into his mouth and fought back a shiver, as he hadn’t really eaten anything in the last couple of days; his appetite gone and his stomach cramping.

Chanyeol’s shoulders slightly caved in relief and he looked back to Jongdae, “I’ll be out there in a few minutes,” he promised and watched Jongdae swiftly leave, softly closing the door behind him.

“Make sure you eat enough for both of us,” Baekhyun demanded; he might have been in and out of a fitful sleep during the week, but he knew that Chanyeol had barely left his side other than to go shower or use the restroom.

“Fine,” Chanyeol complied easily, and he relaxed more when Baekhyun gave him a full smile.  He leaned forward and kissed him softly, stroking his cheek with his thumb, “I love you, I promise I’ll be back shortly.”

“Okay, tell the others that I’m sorry I couldn’t go,” Baekhyun said and kissed Chanyeol’s cheek, “I love you too, thank you for taking care of me.”

Chanyeol’s cheeks reddened slightly and he coughed, ducking his head shyly, “Of course, I’ll make your appointment before I go too.”

Baekhyun wasn’t too eager for that, but he would let Chanyeol have his way, as he was curious to know why his sickness was coming and going.  He squeezed his boyfriend’s hand lightly before letting go and started to sip on his broth and waved goodbye when Chanyeol left the bedroom.

Chanyeol leaned against the door briefly, fighting himself; he wanted to stay with Baekhyun, paranoia crept within him, but he also wanted to go see the rest of his friends, as the only company he had surrounded himself for the last week were the four walls of his and Baekhyun’s bedroom and his sickly boyfriend.  He finally urged himself to move and wondered out into the living room, Jongin and Kyungsoo were on the couch, they both perked up when they saw him, along with Minseok and Jongdae.

“How is Baekhyun?” Jongin asked.

“He’s eating some of the Miso,” Chanyeol replied, “I’m going to take him to the doctor sometime this week, hopefully I can get him in tomorrow.”

Minseok smiled at him, “Good luck with that, he wouldn’t go to the hospital for a splint for his ankle, not until Kyungsoo bullied him into the damn building.”

“You’re too gentle with him,” Kyungsoo chided Chanyeol. 

“He fractured his ankle!” Chanyeol defended himself.

Kyungsoo leveled him with a stare that had Chanyeol shrinking back slightly, “Which wouldn’t have healed properly if I didn’t make him go; you were too afraid to make him move an inch.”

Chanyeol’s shoulders slumped, “I am making him go to the doctors though, you won’t have to drag him there this time.”

“Good, you’re learning,” Kyungsoo nodded approvingly.  “Health is always most important, make good decisions for your significant other when they’re too ill to do it themselves.”

Jongin had more than his fair share of Kyungsoo going overboard with him, so he could only smile sympathetically at Chanyeol.  He patted Kyungsoo’s thigh lightly, “Don’t worry so much, Soo, Chanyeol loves Baekhyun, he’ll always take care of him.”

Jongdae muffled his laughter at Chanyeol’s happy nodding and Minseok was smiling happily to see them in higher spirits.

JunMyeon came into the living room, followed by Sehun, the youngest of the group looked among them and he frowned slightly and stuffed his hands into his hoodie pouch and nodded to them before heading towards the door.

“Yeesh, that kid is going to frown himself into an old man,” Jongdae stated and looked over to JunMyeon.  “What even happened, Hyung?”

JunMyeon gave a helpless shrug, “He was on the phone with someone when I came to his bedroom; it must have been not a great conversation because he hung up on them and then was stilted with me.”

The others looked among each other to see if anyone knew anything, but none of them had a clue what was wrong with their youngest. 

“Mm, dinner is going to be fun,” Minseok commented lamely; he adored Sehun, but when that boy had an attitude, he made King Cobras seem nicer. 

JunMyeon looked at them pleadingly, “Let’s just _try_ to make this a nice dinner and we’ll get Baekhyun some leftovers, maybe he can pick at tomorrow.”

Chanyeol agreed with that and soon he was following the rest out the door, he paused only for a brief moment at the threshold before Kyungsoo and Jongin both grabbed at his arms and pulled him out.

Baekhyun hardly stirred when he felt Chanyeol slide into bed behind him, he murmured softly to him and cuddled into his warmth.  He felt Chanyeol’s arm wrap around him slowly, “S’okay,” he whispered, “you won’t hurt me or upset my stomach.  Soup was good, thank you.”

Chanyeol had been pleased to find that most of it had been eaten and one of the Gatorades had been drained, “You’re welcome,” he kissed Baekhyun’s cheek.  “I scheduled your appointment while I was out, you have a 11:30 appointment tomorrow morning, I let our manager know that you and I would be gone for at least a couple hours at most.”

“Ugh,” Baekhyun grumped.

“Dr. Kim is your family doctor, she seemed worried when I told her what had been happening to you,” Chanyeol told him.  “She wanted to know why you hadn’t come in earlier.”

“Because it’s probably just stress,” Baekhyun reminded him a little sharply, he felt Chanyeol tense up.  “But, I’ll go regardless, she’s a nice doctor, she took over for her father when he retired about 10 years ago.”

“I look forward to meeting her,” Chanyeol said, relaxing again when it seemed that Baekhyun was going to start being cold shouldered.  He sighed sleepily and felt Baekhyun push back up against his chest and he held him a little more firmly, not enough to actually cause discomfort and his boyfriend hadn’t tensed in pain either.

“Was dinner good?” Baekhyun asked, he was still half asleep, but he was still curious of what happened while he stayed at the dorm. 

“Yes, we brought you some food back, maybe you can try to eat it after we come back from the doctor’s office,” Chanyeol said.  He opened his eyes again when he felt Baekhyun wiggle back against him, “Baek,” he said warningly.

“What?” Baekhyun innocently asked.  “I’m fine now, I promise.”

“We’ll see about that later tonight or in the morning,” Chanyeol sounded grim at the thought of Baekhyun being unable to move again due to pain.  He heard his boyfriend huff at him for being no fun, but Chanyeol wasn’t going to do anything that could upset the calm that Baekhyun’s body was currently in.

Baekhyun glanced at Chanyeol over his shoulder, “But could we—”

“Go to sleep, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol ordered.  He felt Baekhyun shiver in his hold and he made himself remain calm down and soon enough, his wild-card of a boyfriend settled back down against him.

Baekhyun did just that, he was disappointed in himself for not putting up a fight of wanting to get held down and having a fun night with Chanyeol, he fell asleep knowing that he’d have other chances in the future.

~~~

Chanyeol woke around 8 the following morning due to Baekhyun’s knee jamming itself into his side and he rolled over, watching Baekhyun hustle out of their bedroom, holding a hand on his mouth and muffling his gagging.  He silently followed after, heading to the kitchen first to grab a bottle of water and he went to the linen closet and grabbed a wash cloth before wetting it to make it damp and waited while Baekhyun finished dry-heaving.

Baekhyun whined pitifully as he sat back and let Chanyeol fuss over him.  His eyes were watery and his stomach, chest, and head hurt and he took small sips of the water Chanyeol offered him.  He looked at Chanyeol with a sad expression and he watched the frown spread on his boyfriend’s face, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me and I’m scared,” he whispered.

Chanyeol placed a hand on Baekhyun’s forehead, “You’re not running a fever either, we’ll just have to see what Dr. Kim says,” he informed him.  He hugged Baekhyun gently, running a calming hand down his back, “I know you’ll be okay, but I am sorry that you’re suffering like this.”

Baekhyun stifled his tears the best he could, burying his face in Chanyeol’s shirt and clung to the front of his shirt, “Can we just shower and get ready?” he asked; he longed to have just a normal day.

“Yes,” Chanyeol nodded and helped Baekhyun stand up before making him sit down on the closed toilet and started the shower.  He went and grabbed a couple towels for them and started to undress, Baekhyun did as well and soon they were under the spray of warm water.  He massaged his hands through Baekhyun’s hair slowly, lathering the shampoo thoroughly, “Do you feel any worse?”

“It’s not as bad as it just was,” Baekhyun confessed.  “I just hate how on and off it is.”

“I know you do,” Chanyeol agreed.  He rinsed Baekhyun’s hair and let Baekhyun do the same to him, before they both washed off their bodies, and soon where just basking under the heat before Baekhyun murmured that he was tired of standing and shuffled out to dry himself off.

Baekhyun dried off and redressed himself and moved to go brush his teeth.  He heard Chanyeol shut the water off and briefly glanced at him as he also did the same thing Baekhyun did earlier, “I’m going to go lie back down until we have to get ready to leave.”

“Okay, I’ll make you some dry toast, see if you can keep that down,” Chanyeol replied and finished brushing his teeth.  He headed off towards the kitchen and found JunMyeon sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in his hand as he scrolled through his tablet of probably the morning news.

“Is he okay?” JunMyeon asked when he looked up at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol shrugged at him, “He said he feels a little better, but he went to go lie back down.  I’m taking to the doctor today.”

“Good,” JunMyeon breathed.  “You’ll let us know if something is wrong, won’t you?”

Chanyeol paused as he took the bread tie off the plastic, “I’ll let him do the talking, this is his health.”

JunMyeon nodded at that, but the worry was still on his face; he let Chanyeol make the small breakfast in silence.

When Chanyeol came back to the bedroom, he found Baekhyun curled up on his side, scrolling slowly through his phone, “Can you eat a little of this?”

Baekhyun looked at the plate, a disinterested expression on his face, but he slowly nodded and sat up, grimacing slightly as he held his middle, it felt really warm on the inside, uncomfortably warm.

“Just a couple bites,” Chanyeol said and passed him the plate and set another bottle of Gatorade down.  He went ahead and got dressed, while Baekhyun choked down the smallest bites that Chanyeol had ever seen.  After he got dressed, he grabbed one of his hoodies and a pair of sweatpants for Baekhyun to wear and set them over the chair at the computer desk.

Baekhyun set the plate on the bedside table, he ate half of the pieces of toast and took small sips of his drink, “This is awful and I really hope Dr. Kim has some antibiotics or something, because this is the worst,” he declared and slowly moved off the bed to get dressed.

Chanyeol wordlessly agreed and let Baekhyun settle basically on him, holding him as Baekhyun played aimlessly on his phone, he could tell that Baekhyun was still aching, as his body was tense, no matter how comfortingly he rubbed Baekhyun’s back and shoulders.

They stayed like that until Chanyeol got a text from their manager, telling him that they were ready to take Baekhyun to his appointment.  Chanyeol helped Baekhyun up and guided him out of the room, they passed through the living room, but none of their friends were out, so they must have been lazing in bed or were still asleep.

Baekhyun followed their manager out of the dorm, his fingers interlocked with Chanyeol’s as they headed to the van; he was glad that it was late enough that their fans were outside, as school had already started, but still early enough to not have to deal with traffic.  He closed his eyes and held Chanyeol’s hand in his lap as they were drove to his doctor’s office, he felt nervous going, as he’d have to get additional tests done and he told himself that everything would turn out okay.

“Baek,” Chanyeol murmured, he saw Baekhyun open his eyes and saw him slowly look towards the doctor’s office and he saw the small pout his boyfriend wore.  “Hey, you agreed that you needed to get a checkup.”

“I know,” Baekhyun said in a small voice as he unbuckled himself.  He hated that he was almost 29 and he hated his childish fear of the doctor’s office.  He got out of the van, Chanyeol was waiting for him, he told their manager that he’d text them after Baekhyun’s appointment was finished.

“Ready?” Chanyeol offered his hand that Baekhyun shakily took and led them inside.  He looked around and saw that there were only a couple people in the waiting room, but they did not pay them any mind, he walked to the receptionist’s window and greeted the woman politely.

Baekhyun followed him, “Hi, I’m here for my check up, Byun Baekhyun,” he told her.

“Byun, Byun…ah, yes, Dr. Kim will ready for you shortly, if you’ll please have a seat until one of our nurses will call you back when they’re ready,” she smiled to them and gestured to the seats that were behind them.

They waited for about 15 minutes, Baekhyun had his head resting on Chanyeol’s shoulder, while quietly watching a video with him with shared earbuds.  He was about to nod off because the office atmosphere was quite nice, the lights were dim, the walls painted a warm coffee tone, with golden, creamy accents, and the chairs were comfy as well.

“Byun Baekhyun?” a nurse called from the door that was next to the receptionist’s window.  She held a clipboard and was smiling kindly to the pair, as they were the only ones left there.

Baekhyun stood up, hesitant to leave Chanyeol in the waiting room, but his boyfriend nudged him lightly.

“I’ll be here,” Chanyeol promised.

At that, Baekhyun followed the nurse back to what room was his and he followed her instructions, he removed his shoes and shed Chanyeol’s hoodie and shivered as the light T-shirt under it didn’t keep him warm.  His weight and height were taken as well as his blood pressure, he asked basic questions if his diet had changed in the last 6 months or if he noticed anything abnormal going on, he informed the nurse the strange body pains he went throughout the week and how sickly he had felt, he watched her type all that down, before he was left alone in the room.

Baekhyun fiddled with his phone again, texting Chanyeol that he was now waiting on Dr. Kim and that they should be heading out in the next 20 minutes or so.  Just as he sent that text, Dr. Kim knocked and entered and he smiled and greeted his doctor, “How are you?”

“I am well, but I should be asking you that, as your worried boyfriend called in such a frantic state last night,” Dr. Kim said.   

Baekhyun blushed up to the tips of his ears, “Chanyeol can be extremely dramatic, he probably made it sound like I had the plague or something.”

“Just about,” Dr. Kim mused, smiling at him.  She sat down on the roller chair and uploaded her laptop and spent a couple seconds clicking away before pulling up the notes the nurse took earlier, “Hmm, your symptoms can point to chronic stress, with your anxiety and rapid mood changes, as you’ve reported before previously, has that not changed any?”

“I don’t know why it would be stress, I mean, I haven been worried about my future and Chanyeol’s and I’m worried about our friends too after our group retires from EXO,” Baekhyun informed her, fidgeting slightly.  “I know we’ll be fine, but it’s still worrying.”

“It can be, especially when you’ve always been doing something for 10 years, your body has adjusted to the extreme requirements of your job, which also can lead to those type of mental damages, all those worries, which can cause body pains, loss of appetite, fatigue, irritability, and depression,” Dr. Kim informed him.  She looked over to Baekhyun, “Other than diet changes, have you increased drinking or started smoking?”

“No, I barely drink at all, if I do, then it would literally be at least one time a month and I don’t smoke,” Baekhyun informed her. 

Dr. Kim hummed and entered that into her computer, “And you’re still sexually active?”

“Yes,” Baekhyun said, a bit shyly; he knew it was his doctor, but he was only human.

“And you use protection either condoms or birth control?” Dr. Kim asked.

“We use protection, I stopped taking birth control because of my schedule, the alternatives didn’t sit well, I’m not able to get the cervix one because, well, as you clearly know, I’m not exactly equipped like a natural born girl, I just have the recessive gene to have kids, and the implant made me get a skin rash,” Baekhyun said.  “I did take the morning pill a long time ago, but I didn’t experience any negative side effects.”

“How regularly do you and your partner have intercourse?” Dr. Kim was typing in her notes and updating Baekhyun’s file.

Baekhyun nervously rubbed his hands together, “Maybe three times every couple of weeks?” he chuckled awkwardly.  “Despite our group retirement coming soon, we’re still as busy as when we debuted.”

Dr. Kim smiled at him, “Don’t worry, your mother will never have to know,” she winked.

Baekhyun laughed, “Ah, I do worry if she has as secret sense, despite me being 10 years older than from when I debuted.”

Dr. Kim laughed at that before looking at her recent notes, “Okay, this is unscheduled, but I would like to do an ultrasound and take some blood work, the ultrasound is just to check on your organs and make sure their structures haven’t changed due to the slight rise of your blood pressure and the bloodwork will just to be check for any vitamin deficiencies,” Dr. Kim said as she walked to the other side of Baekhyun and wheeled over an ultrasound.  She hooked the machine up and while it was booting up, she turned to Baekhyun, “I’m going to grab Nurse Rey and she will draw your blood.”

Baekhyun nodded to her, he bit as his bottom lip nervously and he didn’t have more time to worry as Dr. Kim and Nurse Rey came to his room.  He followed her instructions when he was told to lie back and rolled his shirt until his stomach was exposed.

“Okay, now, you just need relax,” Dr. Kim said to Baekhyun.  “Ms. Rey, if you could start taking his blood, I’ll get his ultrasound ready,” she said, she was setting the machine up and making sure the wand was synched up before going to wash her hands and put on her gloves. 

The nurse carefully swabbed the crook of Baekhyun’s elbow, “Okay, just relax your arm,” she said.  She felt for a main vein and hummed, “You’re dehydrated.”

“I’ve had difficulty keeping anything down,” Baekhyun said, he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the needle.  He felt her prodding around again before feeling the needle slide under his skin and he grimaced at the small pinch.

“Okay, hold this ball and squeeze tightly,” Nurse Rey said, passing him a stress ball.

Baekhyun did that and jumped when cool gel was spread across his abdomen.

“Sorry, should have warned you,” Dr. Kim giggled.  She gently pressed the wand to the lower part of his abdomen and paused to observe the image on the monitor that was next to her.

Baekhyun cocked his head slightly to also look, but all he saw was darkness and white-gray blobs that moved with his breathing.  He flexed his hand again with the stress ball in it when the nurse softly reminded him and then the needle was being withdrawn and the needle hole was being covered and he gave the stress ball back to her.  He shivered when the wand was slid more to the left and he saw that everything still looked the same, “Anything bad?”

“No, your organs are functioning healthily,” Dr. Kim smiled and did one last observation before switching the machine off, cleaned the wand, and let Baekhyun clean his stomach off of the gel. 

Nurse Rey finished cleaning up before taking the three vials of Baekhyun’s blood with her after wishing Baekhyun well and left the two alone again.

Dr. Kim removed her gloves and washed her hands again before drying them and went back to her laptop, “Your blood results will be done within a few days, I will have Nurse Rey call you when they come in, if you’re available, I would schedule another appointment in a couple weeks, just to keep an eye on your health.”

“Yea, I can schedule an appointment with the receptionist, it probably won’t be until the end of the month or start of the new month though,” Baekhyun said as he scrolled through his phone calendar; for his own purposes, he filled out EXO’s activities so he could figure out some free time.

“Okay, well, you’re all set,” Dr. Kim smiled at him.  “Just be sure to refrain from drinking until your next appointment, even if you get your first blood test results come back clear, we’ll do another one just in case.”

Baekhyun nodded to her and hopped off the small clinic table, put on his shoes and pulled the hoodie back on, and followed Dr. Kim out.  He walked through the door he had originally come through and saw Chanyeol perk up and watched him stand up and stretch before heading over to him.  Baekhyun was making his next appointment, “I’ll be available next month, May 7th, is Dr. Kim free that day?”

“Yes, I can schedule you in for either 10:30 AM or 2 PM,” the receptionist replied.

“10:30, please,” Baekhyun said as he entered that into his phone calendar and he saw Chanyeol doing the same and he smiled at that.  He took the appointment card from her and thanked her.

“Your nurse will call you within a few days to give you your results, would you like them emailed to you?” the receptionist asked him.

“That’s fine,” Baekhyun nodded and gave her his email before thanking her again and he and Chanyeol were out of the office.

“How was it?” Chanyeol asked him.  “Do you need recovery ice-cream?  If you can handle that.”

“It went well, I got my blood taken, as you heard and Dr. Kim asked that I do a follow up too,” Baekhyun responded.  He looked around for the van their manager drove, “What about our manager?”

“I can text him to come and get us, I didn’t know if you felt well enough to be outside, you seemed upset to be cramped inside for the most of the week,” Chanyeol said and started to pull out his phone.

“No, let’s go walk,” Baekhyun took Chanyeol’s hand into his own.

“Are you sure?” Chanyeol asked him.  “I know you’ve been cooped up, but you shouldn’t strain yourself.”

“A short walk won’t hurt me,” Baekhyun tugged impatiently on Chanyeol’s hand.

They walked aimlessly around, they ended up at a park and got ice-cream cones and sat on the swings and watched families with younger children play on the park equipment, they were still bundled in jackets and hats, but they both could see the smiles and hear the excited squeals of the children running by or on swings with their parents gently pushing them.

Baekhyun caught Chanyeol’s lingering stare on a young male couple, around their age, the taller one was holding the toddler around two or three years old by his hand to guide him to his other parent, who was sitting on a blanket, and round with another child.  He nibbled at the waffle cone as he stared at the sand, and he subconsciously touched his covered abdomen with his free hand, but all he felt was flatness and he didn’t know why that bothered him so much.

“Is your stomach bothering you?”

The shorter blinked at the question and saw that Chanyeol was looking at him, concern was on his face and Baekhyun was getting tired of being the source of Chanyeol’s worry.  He shook his head, “No, I’m surprised that I’m not feeling awful, I guess I only needed ice-cream,” Baekhyun mused and felt his spirits lift when he saw Chanyeol smile at him.

“Well, let’s head back to our dorm anyway, let’s not push it,” Chanyeol said as he text their manager where they were.  He had finished his ice-cream off a while ago and was now slowly swinging back and forth as Baekhyun stayed put, “You’re really quiet, are you sure nothing went wrong?”

“I’m fine, just a little sleepy,” Baekhyun said.  He looked back to the young couple and frowned slightly, he wondered what it would be like to have a child, he fiddled with the drawstrings on Chanyeol’s hoodie that he wore and he resisted the urge to take out his phone and Google it, because he didn’t want to freak Chanyeol out.

Their manager arrived within 15 minutes and drove them back to the dorm, it was almost two hours since they had been gone and the rest of their friends were bustling about the dorm now, getting ready for some event that Baekhyun wasn’t going to attend in case if his symptoms came back suddenly.

“I don’t want to leave you alone, I’ll be gone for much longer,” Chanyeol fretted once they were in their bedroom.

Baekhyun slowly undressed, “I’ll be fine, Yeollie, you don’t have to worry yourself sick about me.  I’m just going to lie down after a nice hot bath,” he said, voice muffled as he pulled the hoodie over his head.  He jumped slightly at the sudden touch of Chanyeol’s warm hands on his bare hips, his shirt had lifted with the hoodie and he froze, arms at a cross to pull the hoodie off and he suddenly could feel all of Chanyeol pressed up against him.

Chanyeol slowly dragged his hands up the expanse of Baekhyun’s uncovered skin as he hummed lowly, “Are you?” he asked curiously, slowly tugging the hoodie higher over Baekhyun’s head before stopping and pivoting Baekhyun to land on the bed.  He slid over him, freeing Baekhyun’s head for him as Baekhyun squirmed to get his arms and to Chanyeol’s satisfaction, he wasn’t having much luck from the position due to the cloth trapped under him, he was knelt between Baekhyun’s spread legs, hands on either side of Baekhyun’s trapped elbows, observing the way his boyfriend wiggled from within his hold.

“I’m stuck,” Baekhyun whined, looking up at Chanyeol, who just looked like he caught the best prize.  He practically shook when he felt Chanyeol’s soft lips glide across the sensitive skin of his belly and the muscles leapt at the sensation, “ _Chan_ ,” he brokenly whispered. It was getting hotter and where he was trapped and squirming to get free, his body was aflame; his toes curled when he felt Chanyeol nip at his hip.  He resisted the urge to arch his back, resisted the demand he felt on the tip of his tongue to beg Chanyeol to bite him, he tried to shy away as Chanyeol’s strong hands slid up his clothed thighs, squeezing them firmly, “You h-have to go to a-an event showing with the others,” Baekhyun shakily reminded, his eyes squeezed shut and he gritted his teeth when Chanyeol merely hummed at him and moved to kiss and nip up his stomach before licking a thick stripe up Baekhyun’s chest and he enjoyed listening to the moan that Baekhyun released.

“Do I?” Chanyeol rumbled next to Baekhyun’s ear and the smirk that slid across his face when he heard his boyfriend’s soft squeak would have made the devil jealous.  He felt Baekhyun’s right knee jerk up slightly and bump into his ribs in a knee-jerk reaction when he latched his teeth into the exposed sliver of his neck and enjoyed the way Baekhyun trembled under him.

“Yah!  Whatever you’re doing that’s making Baekhyun sound like he’s going to have an asthma attack, quit it!  We’re leaving in 10 minutes!” Jongdae’s voice came clearly through the closed door.

The couple both startled and Chanyeol shot the closed door a scathing look before grumbling under his breath and freed Baekhyun from his hoodie confinements, he saw how frazzled Baekhyun looked, his bottom lip puffy and red from sinking his teeth into it to muffle his sounds, his cheeks were practically glowing, and his eyes were dewy.

“You’re horrible,” Baekhyun breathed, pushing at Chanyeol’s face.  “You’ve become me when I was younger.”

“Baek, you’ve been this vixen creature since I’ve known you,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes.

“Well, you’re worse now that we’re a couple!” Baekhyun shrilled, cheeks still red.  He swallowed unevenly when he watched Chanyeol’s eyes slide down him, drinking him like he was dying man of thirst. 

“You’re the one who jumped me while we were at your sweet, innocent grandma’s house and Yixing was just down the hall,” Chanyeol teasingly reminded him.  He still loomed over Baekhyun and leaned down to rest on his forearms to kiss Baekhyun, he sucked back a hiss when Baekhyun dragged his teeth over his bottom lip, it stung pleasantly, “I am coming back for you.”

Baekhyun thought the low rumble of that statement was going to be enough to get him off and he now wanted to keep Chanyeol trapped in their bedroom.  Much to his displeasure, he could not, Chanyeol had to attend a public event with the rest of their group at noon and Baekhyun wasn’t for sure when they’d be coming back; he knew that events didn’t last longer than three hours, but still, it was three hours too long when he could be productive with other things.

They both had to take a few extra minutes to calm down, which meant they couldn’t take care of themselves or take care of each other, because as much as Chanyeol liked to see Baekhyun on his knees and mouth around him, he really loved watching Baekhyun get himself off, and Baekhyun wouldn’t let Chanyeol go if the taller put his hands on him; he’d cling and whine his way to get what he wanted and that was to have Chanyeol inside him.

Instead, Baekhyun miserably watched Chanyeol change into nicer clothes after the taller had taken some calming breaths and got ready to head out, he’d of course still get his makeup done and his hair fixed before he went out with the rest of the group, and Baekhyun couldn’t wait to mess up his hair with his fingers and cover his neck and collarbones in marks that would have the makeup noonas pissed because their foundations weren’t working.

“ _Yeollie_ ,” Baekhyun pleaded, looking up at him with sad eyes.

Chanyeol still found it hard to resist Baekhyun’s charms, he still looked like as he did 10 years ago, emotionally more mature in some ways and his face had lost most of its baby fat, but Baekhyun still looked as he did when they first met, and that was still a threat to his will that nearly crumbled to dust every time he pouted his lips or flashed sad eyes in his direction, he was even more weak when Baekhyun would smile cutely at him—he needed to leave right now or he’d never escape.

“Come back soon, okay?” Baekhyun asked him sweetly.

“Yes,” Chanyeol nodded quickly, desperately not wanting to get sucked into the sweet trap Baekhyun was laying out.  He wanted to kiss him goodbye and stopped himself; he knew better, because one kiss would lead to more and then his group would be upset for being late.  He said goodbye and quickly fled the bedroom and heard Baekhyun sigh in defeat as the door closed behind him.

Baekhyun flopped onto his back, exhaling loudly as he fought the urge to just finish himself off; he and Chanyeol hadn’t touched each other in over two weeks, they were busy with their schedules and Chanyeol didn’t want to press him into sex when he had been feeling so terrible for the last week.  He enjoyed having Chanyeol pressed up against him, holding him, kissing him, his strong arms made Baekhyun feel so safe and small, he loved his hands, the stature of his body, and what was even better was just how caring and gentle Chanyeol could be too.

He berated himself mentally, because he was getting all hot and bothered of Chanyeol’s caring personality and just wondered how the fates had aligned just perfectly to let him not only befriend Chanyeol, but to become his boyfriend too.

Baekhyun’s body was still shaky as he rose from his bed and grabbed one of Chanyeol’s old shirts and a pair of sleeping shorts that clung to his thighs; he was going to be playing mean after Chanyeol left him, even though it technically wasn’t his fault in the first place.

He took his hot bath that he wanted, he soaked in sudsy water, sinking up to his nose and closed his eyes and relaxed in the water; he exhaled slowly and stared at the tile wall, now he could go for a sweet glass of wine and light some candles, but he promised his doctor that he would not drink for the rest of the month.

He rubbed absentmindedly at his stomach that had remained calm for the most of the day and he was extremely thankful for that, he only hoped that he could make it through the night, because he planned on climbing Chanyeol like a tree when he stepped through their bedroom door.

After his bath, he dried off and rubbed in some soft lotion and dressed in Chanyeol’s shirt and his short shorts and sauntered off back to his bedroom and slid onto his bed and grabbed his phone, he could at least watch some videos until Chanyeol came back.

He barely made it through second conspiracy video before he was out like a light.

~~~

Chanyeol was _exhausted_ when he came back to the dorm, as were the rest of the group, he mumbled a halfhearted goodnight before shuffling towards his bedroom and he froze when he saw Baekhyun sleeping atop of the covers, phone still in hand, but his throat felt dry when he saw _those_ shorts that Baekhyun only wore to irritate him.

He still kicked off his shoes and undid his tie, he heard his boyfriend sleepily murmur in confusion, “I’m back,” Chanyeol said quietly and he saw Baekhyun lift his head to look back at him.

“What time is it?” Baekhyun murmured, he squinted at his phone and saw that it was ten after five.  “You were gone for five hours?!”

“Shh,” Chanyeol hushed him when Baekhyun’s voice rose in disbelief.  He could see Baekhyun watching him as he removed his suit jacket and slowly undid his tie, “It was a long event, the others are relaxing, we can’t be too loud.”

Baekhyun pouted, “Who says that I want anything to do with you right now?”

“You’re wearing my shirt and your “Fuck Me” shorts,” Chanyeol air quoted with his fingers and he smiled at Baekhyun’s amused giggle. 

Baekhyun rolled onto his back, stretching one leg out as he kept the other bent and rested himself up on his elbows, “And what are you going to do about it?”

“I’ll show you what I’ll do,” Chanyeol mused, he undid the buttons of his shirt, watching Baekhyun eye him and dropped it on the floor and undid his belt next before sliding his slacks off.

Baekhyun hummed appreciatively at the sight, “Will you?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol rumbled as he slid over Baekhyun and kissed him, he ran one hand up Baekhyun’s scantily exposed thigh as he braced himself over the shorter with his other arm, “So soft,” he danced his fingers across the soft skin of Baekhyun’s hip.

Baekhyun squirmed at the ticklish sensation.  He kissed both of Chanyeol’s cheeks and his thumbs gently rubbed at the slightly darker shade under Chanyeol’s eyes, “You’re sleepy.”

“Not tired enough to take care of you,” Chanyeol murmured, kissing and gently nibbling along the expanse of Baekhyun’s neck.

Baekhyun carded his fingers through the neat waves of Chanyeol’s hair, “I could give you a massage, I still have that oil from our last trip to Japan.”

Chanyeol perked up at that and happily let Baekhyun roll him onto his back, Baekhyun now straddling him, he placed his hands on Baekhyun’s hips, smiling sleepily up at him, “You look good,” he breathed.

“Yea?” Baekhyun smoothed his hands across Chanyeol’s chest and lowered himself to kiss him tenderly.  He smiled when Chanyeol cupped his face briefly and ducked his head a little when he felt Chanyeol’s warm hands ghost down his body and started gripping his hips again, squeezing, and grounding Baekhyun down onto him, “ _Fuck_ ,” Baekhyun hissed, bowing his head.  “I’m supposed to give you a massage, Yeollie, but I can’t do that if you’re— _ah, you fucker.”_

Chanyeol smugly grinned at him as he rocked himself up against Baekhyun, “This is just fine too.”

Baekhyun glared down at him, but he couldn’t deny the hot friction between them and he rolled his hips down with each thrust up Chanyeol gave him; he could already feel small beads of sweat prickling on his spine and Chanyeol’s hair was already clinging to his forehead.

The shirt that Baekhyun wore was hastily pulled over his head, Chanyeol didn’t let him get trapped like last time, he went to roll them back over so he could effectively pin the shorter under him, but Baekhyun placed his hands on his shoulders to stop him.

“I want to ride you,” Baekhyun said simply, he felt Chanyeol twitch against him in high interest.  He watched Chanyeol’s throat bob and he grinned cheekily to make his boyfriend so flustered, even after of being together as a couple for nearly two and a half years.

“Let me prepare you first,” Chanyeol demanded, it was his favorite thing to do other than properly wrecking Baekhyun in their bed; he adored the way he could get Baekhyun to get so compliant under him, loved the way Baekhyun shook and whined at him to go harder, sometimes craved to feel Baekhyun’s perfectly shaped nails to cling and scratch up his back.

Before Baekhyun could speak or move, Chanyeol was already sitting up, they were chest to chest now and the taller had scooted them closer to the bed, he startled a little when one of Chanyeol’s firm hands landed on his ass, palming him as the other was searching through the bedside table, Baekhyun relaxed in his hold, knees completely spreading so their crotches were now together and he would slowly roll his hips occasionally as he kissed and teasingly nipped at Chanyeol’s neck; he muffled his squeak when he felt Chanyeol twist them both, he ended up on his back as Chanyeol was on his knees over him, looming, but it gave Baekhyun the perfect view to sweep his gaze over his boyfriend’s perfectly muscled and toned body.  His mouth watered to see Chanyeol’s dick straining in his black boxers that clung so tantalizing to him and he couldn’t wait to feel that deep inside him.

Chanyeol easily slid Baekhyun’s tiny shorts off him, exposing him for only Chanyeol’s eyes to see.  He gently cupped his hand around Baekhyun and smiled fondly at the gasp Baekhyun released as he gently stroked him before letting him go, his fingers rubbed past his balls, and his smaller second sex that was basically a small slit, he learned much earlier that Baekhyun didn’t get any pleasurable sensation from it either orally or from fingers, and Chanyeol wasn’t about to try to fuck him there either if Baekhyun didn’t get satisfaction from it, but Baekhyun’s ass was just fine, all tight and plush and could take _all_ of Chanyeol.

He lubed three fingers and started with his index finger, circling Baekhyun slowly to let him know, he tried to pin one of Baekhyun’s legs down to spread him further apart and went back to kissing Baekhyun as a distraction, they hadn’t had sex in almost over two weeks and his boyfriend got tight again after barely a day.  He slid his index finger in slowly as he ran his tongue across the seam of Baekhyun’s lips, who slightly parted his lips in answer, it was enough for Chanyeol to swipe his tongue in and he rocked his body up to get a better angle of pushing his finger in Baekhyun and kissing him.

Baekhyun threaded his fingers in Chanyeol’s hair as he felt the second finger starting to push in; he whined in slight discomfort, squeezing his eyes shut a little tighter, because Chanyeol’s fingers were not slim and delicate like his own, they were longer, thicker, great for gripping Baekhyun under his legs for holding him up or pinning him down, and that memory made him grow more aroused, making him push himself a little further down on Chanyeol’s fingers, despite the burn of the stretch.

“Easy,” Chanyeol warned him gently, his eyes were hooded as he took in the sight of Baekhyun’s chest and cheeks were staring to pink-up.  His warm lips latched onto the skin near Baekhyun’s earlobe and he teasingly bit there as he started to scissor his boyfriend open slowly.

The kissing was a helpful distraction, Baekhyun could admit, he always got lost in the sensation of Chanyeol’s warm lips pressing against his own, the slide of his tongue against the inside of his cheek or against his own tongue, the fingers that tangled at the base of his head to hold him still as Chanyeol ravished his mouth; it was a wonderful feeling that made Baekhyun’s stomach flip happily.  He did still notice the Chanyeol’s ring finger carefully pushing in with the other two and he tilted his head, whining again lowly, as Chanyeol softly hushed him and Baekhyun felt the fingers come loose from his hair, Chanyeol’s arm slid under his back, making him arch up and he gasped when Chanyeol crooked his fingers just right.

“Better?” Chanyeol murmured in Baekhyun’s ear, who answered with a weak nod, he watched through pleased half-lidded eyes as Baekhyun tilted his head back, eyes shut, mouth slightly parted as Chanyeol crooked and thrusted his fingers in Baekhyun’s pliant body, confident now by the sounds his boyfriend was emitting.

Baekhyun was moving his hands down between them to palm Chanyeol through his boxers, “I’m good, Chan, please,” he shakily whispered, he didn’t know if he was going to last long because of the perfect angle Chanyeol was getting each time that had his toes curling and the warmth that was staring to pool in his gut.

The taller slowly eased his fingers out of Baekhyun and wiped the remaining lube residue off on the sheets that they’d certainly have to pull off their bed after they were done.  He reached for the condom packet and Baekhyun snatched it before him and he felt Baekhyun shove him back down, “Bossy,” Chanyeol chided at him, but he was smiling at him.

Baekhyun nodded his head, “You know I get like this when I want you right now,” he reminded smartly.  He held the packet between his teeth as he dipped his fingers below the waistband of Chanyeol’s boxers and pulled them slowly down before tossing them to the side and he then silently wondered if he had been prepared enough, because he kept forgetting how _big_ Chanyeol actually was until he was actually about to have sex with him.

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow, “Nothing you haven’t seen before.”

“Can I be mystified by your size?  I’m trying to stroke your ego here,” Baekhyun bitterly said as he ripped open the packet carefully.  He heard Chanyeol chuckle at him and he grumbled at him before taking Chanyeol into one of his hands and stroked him teasingly, he enjoyed listening to the low hiss his boyfriend gritted out.  He carefully rolled the condom onto Chanyeol and he could feel Chanyeol’s legs quiver under him and he playfully squeezed at him and grinned cheekily at Chanyeol’s low swearing.

“ _Baek_ ,” Chanyeol growled, pulling his smaller boyfriend forward, almost manhandling him over his lap.  He held himself as Baekhyun breathed slowly and started to lower himself onto Chanyeol, “Slowly, I don’t want to hurt you,” he said softly, hands immediately gripping Baekhyun’s waist to slow him.

“I know,” Baekhyun said, voice straining as he slowly pushed down, he rolled his head back, trapping his bottom lip between his teeth as he felt himself white out for second; he briefly wondered if he should have also prepared himself when he was taking a bath earlier, because Chanyeol’s girth was much bigger than two fingers, perhaps a little bigger than the three fingers Chanyeol had in him just a few minutes ago.

Chanyeol had to choke back the groan when Baekhyun was completely flush against him, his nails biting into the soft skin of his boyfriend’s hips.  He watched Baekhyun, seeing him bow his head now, taking in slow breaths through his mouth, his hands were in fists on top of Chanyeol’s chest as he allowed himself a minute to adjust to Chanyeol.

Baekhyun released a shaky breath before opening his eyes to look at Chanyeol, “Okay, are you good?”

“Yes, sure you want to be riding me?” Chanyeol asked him.  He was answered by Baekhyun rolling his hips and lifting himself slightly before bringing himself back down, “Okay, yea, _fuck_ , just pace yourself,” Chanyeol grunted.

Baekhyun wordless did was he was told, he whined high in his throat when Chanyeol rolled his hips up as he was coming back down and he may have clawed a little at his partner’s chest.

“We have to be quiet, Hyunnie,” Chanyeol reminded him.  “Misbehave and I’ll have to put you face down on the bed and fuck you like that.”

Baekhyun covered his mouth when Chanyeol thrusted up harshly after that statement.  He choked back another moan when Chanyeol was controlling how he moved and tried to roll up his hips as Chanyeol held him still, “You’re not being fair,” he whined.

Chanyeol rubbed his thumb across Baekhyun’s hip as he still held him in place, “Hyunnie isn’t being careful nor quiet,” Chanyeol stated.  He saw Baekhyun’s annoyed stare and pout, “Hyunnie has to be careful so he doesn’t hurt himself and Hyunnie has to be quiet so we don’t disturb the others in the dorm.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m little,” Baekhyun growled.  He suddenly found himself on his back, Chanyeol barricading him and he breathed uneasily when Chanyeol licked slowly up his neck and bit his earlobe.

“You are little,” Chanyeol rumbled, voice much lower; he could feel Baekhyun shaking under him, “So easily to be manhandled how I want you,” he rolled his hips sharply and heard Baekhyun’s muffled gasp, “Easy to hold, easy to touch, easy to tease, taste, and fuck.”

Baekhyun thought this was going to be the end of him when his dork of a boyfriend got into his bedroom mode; he muffled another moan with his hand as Chanyeol thrust into him again, slowly dragging himself out of Baekhyun entirely before pushing back in.  He wrapped his arms around Chanyeol’s neck when Chanyeol was now going at a steady pace, he hid his face in his boyfriend’s neck and locked his legs around his boyfriend’s waist, Chanyeol kept one hand on his waist as he kept himself braced on his other forearm as he rocked into Baekhyun.

The room felt hot, all the sound in their room was soft panting, moans, whines, Baekhyun softly crying out Chanyeol’s name, and gentle shushing when Baekhyun got loud again.

Chanyeol thrust two more times while stroking Baekhyun through his orgasm before following after, he groaned into the pillow as Baekhyun dug his nails into his back.  He met Baekhyun in a slightly frantic kiss, Baekhyun’s sharp canines bit a little harshly, but he didn’t mind, he swiped his tongue across his abused bottom lip briefly before going back to trading kisses and as he did that, he slowly pulled out.

“No,” Baekhyun pleaded, he kept his legs tight across Chanyeol, trapping him between his thighs.  He saw Chanyeol nod before settling back inside Baekhyun and they had a slower kiss, Baekhyun’s grip let up, he relaxed his legs, he held Chanyeol’s face softly, and he couldn’t have been anymore content that he already felt.

“Okay, Baek, Hyunnie, I gotta pull out,” Chanyeol murmured after a few minutes and he slowly inched his way out and was glad that Baekhyun hadn’t fought him this time.  He slipped the condom off and tied it shut before tossing it in the wastebasket in their bedroom, he pulled on a pair of loose sweatpants and headed to the bathroom that was by their bedroom, he came back with a warm washcloth and wiped Baekhyun’s stomach and chest clean with slow strokes.

Baekhyun basked under Chanyeol’s sweet attention, he rested his arms above his head as he blearily watched Chanyeol meander about the bedroom after wiping him off, he watched him vanish again before returning and he hummed sleepily, “Come back to bed, we’ll clean up in the morning, we didn’t make that much of a mess,” he said, he opened his arms and Chanyeol immediately slid into his embrace.

If Chanyeol had been exhausted before, he was more than spent now.  He exhaled heavily and relaxed as Baekhyun hummed softly while carding his fingers through his dark hair.  He sleepily kissed his cheek, “You need to sleep too.”

“I will,” Baekhyun promised.  He kissed the top of Chanyeol’s head and relaxed, staring up at the ceiling, he fell sleep watching the sun rays peeking through their curtains move across the wall.

~~~

Baekhyun woke up due being overly warm; he blinked his eyes sleepily and had to untangle himself from Chanyeol, who was curled around Baekhyun, he mumbled tiredly and slowly sat up, he felt his stomach roll, it wasn’t enough to get him running to the bathroom.

He eased himself onto his side and rested his head on Chanyeol’s chest, lulled into another peaceful state at the steady thumping of Chanyeol’s heart, he rubbed at his stomach absentmindedly, like how his mother used to for him when he had a stomachache.  He reached for his phone a moment later, he was tired of feeling the way he was, he checked for any symptoms that were linked with his, he saw that most could have been just from the body being overwhelmed, but he sat up in fright, a coldness settling in his chest when he read that he could be experiencing early signs of pregnancy.

Baekhyun looked down at his flat stomach and back to his phone and counted back to when he and Chanyeol last had sex, other than the night before.  He froze, “No, we used protection, there’s no way, we would have felt the condom break,” he whispered to himself.  He thought back to when his doctor recommended for him to come back in the next couple of weeks to get another checkup and more blood drawn and he lied onto his back and stared up at the ceiling in shock; he couldn’t be pregnant.

He scrolled a little frantically through stories of women and other recessive men sharing their experience and he felt sick; he wanted to take a pregnancy test just to make sure that he really wasn’t, but he didn’t want to tip Chanyeol off, or have any other of their friends find the test.

Baekhyun checked his email, but he didn’t see any email from his doctor’s office and he closed out of the app.  He sighed heavily and suddenly, he felt Chanyeol hugging him close, “Chan?”

“Hmm?” Chanyeol murmured.  He tucked his face into Baekhyun’s hair, “It’s early.”

“You’re really warm, I was melting,” Baekhyun explained.  He wasn’t really in the mood to talk and he was grateful that Chanyeol had nodded back off, so he just stayed trapped in Chanyeol’s arms and hoped that he was just being overly paranoid.

And over the next couple of days, his friends nor boyfriend said anything if he seemed a little out of it, they just assumed that he was still getting over his illness that was coming and going, and Chanyeol went back to the doctor’s with Baekhyun the following three days later when he got a call from Nurse Rey and his emailed results.

“Your blood work is in good health,” Nurse Rey confirmed when she reviewed his report with him.  “Have you had anymore symptoms you had listed with us after your last week appointment?”

“Um, just tired a lot and I sometimes still get sick, so I’ve been eating lightly,” Baekhyun said.  He saw the way Chanyeol looked grim at that statement, his boyfriend wanted to know his results too and didn’t want to stay in the waiting room this time.  “Other than that, no.”

“Okay, well, we’ll just take one more blood test just to be thorough,” the nurse led them back to a smaller room that only had a table and a couple chairs.

Baekhyun got prepped again for his bloodwork and he saw that Chanyeol’s face grow chalky when Nurse Rey began to draw his blood.  He didn’t want to worry his boyfriend any more than he was already, but he was curious, “Is there any reason why I’ve had to have two blood tests done and that I’m going to be having another one at my next appointment?”

“We just want to check and make sure that you aren’t suffering from any vitamin deficiencies and with blood work, we will catch any changes faster,” Nurse Rey informed him. 

Baekhyun told himself to calm down and that he was just being paranoid, he didn’t see anything regarding his hCG levels, nor had Nurse Rey mentioned any changes of it, so he didn’t think he was pregnant, but it was still a worrying thought that had him poking gently at his belly, cocking his head this way and that when he looked at himself in the mirror, checked for any weight gain on the scale, but he didn’t see anything that would alert him.

He felt the same, just tired and sickly some days, but it wasn’t to the point where he had to stay in the dorm anymore, which he was so grateful for, he thought he was going to go insane, so he silently wondered what truly was wrong with him as Nurse Rey removed the needle and wrapped the crook of his elbow in gauze.

After that, he and Chanyeol got a quick lunch before they were taken back to their dorm, they got ready to go see an event show with the new groups who had debuted and he was eager to see all the new performances.

He sipped at the ginger ale that Chanyeol brought to him, he felt Chanyeol’s arm settle around his shoulders and he watched with awe with the new groups from different companies, he saw a couple familiar faces that he had passed by through the building, but other than that, he didn’t know any of their names.

Baekhyun figured his life was getting back in order, because he didn’t feel as sick anymore, he was tired more some days, but he wouldn’t complain about that, he practiced with his group for future events they’d have for the next three months before they decided if they were going to sign another contract or disband.

It was a week after his last blood test when Nurse Rey called him, she didn’t sound anxious, but she did inform him that he would have to come to Dr. Kim’s office for a scheduled emergency appointment and that had his heart almost fluttering into his throat.

His manager was worried when Baekhyun told him that he had an emergency appointment with his doctor the following morning, he just said that there was something in his bloodwork that had to be discussed in person.

Baekhyun let Chanyeol know that he was going to the doctor’s in the morning, he just said that he had set an earlier appointment because he didn’t want to go to the doctor’s the day after his 29th birthday, when he was now old, he had jokingly told his boyfriend, who just laughed at him and kissed him.

But when Baekhyun went to shower alone, because Chanyeol went to bed early, he felt like he was in a pathetically sad drama because he was muffling his hysterical crying with the shower running, while he sat fully clothed on the outside of the running bath, sobbing into his knees from anxiety.

It took him precisely one-hour and 15 minutes to calm down and then he stuck his face under cold water because his eyes were blood red and his face was so blotchy.  He patted his face dry and then stood in the bathroom to make sure that he was completely fine and then went into the kitchen to drink some chamomile tea before bed, which he knew he’d regret and having to pee all night, but he didn’t feel like going to bed yet.

He wasn’t expecting Sehun to be in in the kitchen, his figure shadowed by the overhead light above the stove, he didn’t feel like talking, so he just nodded at Sehun and got the kettle and filled it up with water and turned the stove on and went to grab a box of chamomile tea, he had at least four boxes, due to Chanyeol being obsessively observant one day. 

“You look like you’re heading to death row,” Sehun commented, eyebrows furrowed when he looked over Baekhyun.

Baekhyun grumbled at him while slicing up a lemon and went to the kettle when it started to whistle, he poured himself a small cup of hot water and dipped the tea bag into it before squeezing a bit of lemon in it. 

“Hyung,” Sehun called, “what is it?”

Baekhyun finally looked at him and he saw Sehun’s eyes widen slightly, “I’m…” he trailed off hesitantly and he saw Sehun lean forward, his attention on Baekhyun, “I don’t even know if I can talk about it.”

“Are you…leaving the group early?” Sehun asked him softly.

Baekhyun paused before sitting down, he realized that Sehun had no idea about his frequent doctor appointments, the maknae was probably the only one in the group not to know, as Sehun had been busy either with their group events or whatever he was doing in his free time.  He exhaled slowly, holding his mug a little tightly, “I don’t know if you noticed, but I had been sick recently,” he started and saw Sehun’s slight nod.  “I’ve been to the doctor’s a couple times to figure out what’s wrong with me and my doctor called me earlier this morning, there is something wrong, but I have an idea what it is and I’m terrified,” his voice broke towards the end.

Sehun got up quickly and sat in the seat across from his hyung as Baekhyun hid his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with silent sobs, “Is…is it life threatening?”

Baekhyun took a couple minutes to calm himself down and felt Sehun dabbing at his face gently with a napkin from the pile they kept in the center of the kitchen table.  He sniffled as he looked down at his tea, “No, or it could be, depending on my body adapts to it,” he shakily stated.  He looked Sehun dead in the eye, “Sehun, you have to _swear_ you won’t say a word, not to anyone, not even to Chanyeol, do you promise me?”

Sehun looked shocked that Baekhyun had asked him to keep a secret from Chanyeol, it must have been that serious if Chanyeol couldn’t even know.  He nodded solemnly, he still kept secrets that Tao had told him and that was years ago, “I swear it, Hyung.”

There was a brief pause of Baekhyun taking a couple slow breaths and Sehun silently watched, filled with nervousness.

“I think…I think I might be pregnant,” Baekhyun whispered.  “My doctor asked me to come in tomorrow for an emergency appointment due to my bloodwork results that came in.”

Sehun’s jaw dropped as he stared owlishly at Baekhyun, who looked on the verge of tears again, he quickly cleared his throat, “I…uh, I just… _wow_ ,” he stammered, at a loss for words.

“Did you think I was going to die?” Baekhyun tearfully laughed.

“Something like that, or you had a life-threatening disease,” Sehun confessed.  He scratching lightly at his cheek, “Wow…a baby,” he murmured quietly. 

Baekhyun nodded before taking a small sip of his tea and his shoulders slumped with his sigh, “I don’t know what to do…I’ve been worried for over a week about this, I had looked up symptoms and read other’s experiences and mine match, not word for word, but close enough that the picture became clearer,” he admitted.  He fiddled with his mug, “I don’t know what I’ll do if my results are positive.”

“Will you keep it?” Sehun asked.  He saw the blank expression on Baekhyun’s face, “It’s your choice, you know.”

“I couldn’t do that to Chanyeol that wouldn’t be fair to him if I got rid of our baby before even telling him of its existence,” Baekhyun was shaking his head. 

Sehun nodded at Baekhyun’s honesty, “You love him very much.”

“I do,” Baekhyun whispered.

The two sat in silence, Baekhyun had barely drank his tea and Sehun went back to reading on his phone.  Baekhyun was feeling tired now, his eyes and head hurt and he had to get up early.  He got up and cleaned out his cup before sticking it in the drying rack and he felt Sehun grip his wrist, “Hmm?”

“You’ll tell him, won’t you?  If your results are positive, I mean,” Sehun asked him carefully.

“I will tell him, he deserves to know this,” Baekhyun reassured him.  “I know he’ll be much more excited than I currently am.  I’m just in shock, or will be shocked when my worries are confirmed, but I won’t dislike my…our child,” his heart fluttered at that.

He and Chanyeol made something together, a little human that was going to be theirs.  Baekhyun told himself there was still a possibility that he wasn’t pregnant, but at this point, it was the only logical explanation for everything that he’s gone through and still experiencing.

“You two will be good parents,” Sehun nodded to him, he smiled at him.  “Take lots of pictures, won’t you?”

Baekhyun said that he would and was surprised when Sehun had suddenly stood and embraced him; he hadn’t had a proper hug from in ages it felt like and he wrapped his arms tightly around the slender young man, “I love you, Sehunnie, thank you for listening.”

“You’re my hyung and my best friend, I’m sorry that I haven’t been around,” Sehun apologetically whispered and hugged Baekhyun tighter.

“You’re going through your own stuff, Sehun, it’s okay,” Baekhyun told him.  He let go of Sehun soon after, “I’m sorry,” he apologized sheepishly, “I’m so tired.”

“No, no, I get it,” Sehun said quickly.  He gave Baekhyun another quick hug before letting him, “I wish you happiness, for you, Chanyeol, and for Baby Baek,” he smiled.

Baekhyun thought he was going to start crying again and he was surprised that he still had tears left to shed, “Thank you.”

“Now, go to bed, you have an important day tomorrow,” Sehun urged him to his bed.

Baekhyun said goodnight to him before heading to his bedroom and saw that Chanyeol was sleeping on top of the covers.  He carefully pulled the blanket out from under him with some struggle and heard Chanyeol mumble at him as Baekhyun covered him.  He got into bed and felt Chanyeol wrap his arm around his waist.

“It’s late,” Chanyeol murmured, eyes still closed.

“Couldn’t sleep just yet,” Baekhyun said quietly.  “But I have to sleep now, I have to get up early.”

“M’going with you,” Chanyeol said after a long moment and promptly fell back asleep, unconsciously snuggling closer to Baekhyun.

Being surrounded by warmth and Chanyeol’s gentle hold and the assurance that Chanyeol wouldn’t abandon him, Baekhyun fell into a mostly dreamless sleep, the only fleeting memory of his dream when he woke up was a solar eclipse and snow.

~~~

The trip to Dr. Kim’s was mostly in silence, Baekhyun still wasn’t feeling chatty, he and Chanyeol had been wished off by a half-asleep Sehun, which had Chanyeol looking at the youngest strangely, but had thanked him none the less.

Chanyeol glanced occasionally over at Baekhyun, who was staring out his window, and he took Baekhyun’s hand into his own and linked their fingers together, “You’re worrying me.”

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun apologized, looking away shyly.  “I’m just worried and eager to find out what’s wrong with me.”

“There is something?” Chanyeol’s voice wavered as he turned to look at Baekhyun, he could already feel his eyes starting to burn at the thought of Baekhyun suffering in any way.

Baekhyun quickly shook his head, “No, no, Dr. Kim didn’t say it was bad, she would have told me, she just wanted to give me my results early, Chan, I promise I would have said something if it was bad,” he stated.

Chanyeol still looked over Baekhyun, looking for anything that he thought could be amiss, “I won’t stop being worried until I hear from Dr. Kim that you’re in perfect health.”

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun sighed, “I told you, I just want to privately speak with Dr. Kim, but if she comes with me to the front, you can talk to her then.”

That still made Chanyeol sad, but he’d listen to Baekhyun, “Okay, even if I don’t see her, I trust your word.”

“Thank you,” Baekhyun breathed in relief.  He only felt a slow bubble of guilt forming from within him for wanting to keep the truth from Chanyeol when his boyfriend was keeping his heart on his sleeve for him.

They made it to the doctor’s office, Baekhyun didn’t even need to wait, as Nurse Rey had opened the door for him to the back of the office, he glanced back at Chanyeol as his boyfriend took a seat in one of the chairs and smiled to him, and then he was taken into a much more spacious room.

He had his weight taken again before he was asked to sit on the softer clinic bed that was in a reclined position rather than just flat back, and it had him shivering in anticipation.

Nurse Rey flipped through his chart and she gave him a warm smile, “I’m sure you already know by this point, but Dr. Kim will be here in a few minutes to go over your results with you.”

Baekhyun could only mutely nod to her before she congratulated him kindly and quietly left the room.  He felt a little dizzy and he was barely alone for a minute before Dr. Kim came in, carrying his chart, “Hi,” he meekly greeted her.

“Oh, Baekhyun, you look so sallow,” Dr. Kim frowned.

“Yea, I bet I do,” Baekhyun whispered, shivering again.

Dr. Kim clicked on Baekhyun’s file that was also on her computer and she pulled up his old bloodwork results and handed the physical copy to him, “Did you assume that you were with child for your first appointment?” Dr. Kim asked him.

Baekhyun shook his head, he stared down at the paper in his hands, “No, I just thought I was stressed, the idea had appeared a couple times, but Chanyeol and I were always so careful.  I did a week count and it had to have been near the end of March,” he told her.

“Yes, your hCG levels have risen slightly, you’re still in your very early stages,” Dr. Kim said.  “Your old tests were at a 5, most women and recessive men have the same level or are lower than that.”

“Did you know from the start?” Baekhyun asked her.

“I did not want to assume anything,” Dr. Kim stated.  “Did you take a pregnancy test to confirm it yourself?”

“No, I was afraid that someone in the dorm would find the test,” Baekhyun stated, cheeks flushing in shame.

Dr. Kim nodded sympathetically, “Do not be ashamed for waiting until your appointment, it’s what I’m here for.”

Baekhyun looked down at his test results, most of it was gibberish to him, but he saw the level he was at when Dr. Kim pointed at it for him; he was at 6.  He gave her back the physical copy and held his head in his hands, trying to control his breathing.

“Do you want to skip the ultrasound and set up an appointment for later?” Dr. Kim asked him.

“No, you can show me,” Baekhyun told her.  “I’m going to keep it, so I’d like to know how far I am at least.”

Dr. Kim started up the ultrasound and had Baekhyun lie back again, “You’re very early, you’re under five weeks, given by the results, I don’t think we’ll be able to see anything yet, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

Baekhyun fought back another shiver as the cool gel was spread across his abdomen and soon Dr. Kim was sliding the wand across his midsection again, keeping at the side, he stared at the screen, but he only saw darkness and the gray blobs of his organs.

Dr. Kim searched carefully, “Sometimes you’ll able to see the yolk sac,” she paused and smiled at the screen.

Baekhyun whipped his attention back the monitor and followed to where she was pointing and his breath stuttered his chest; he saw a tiny, grayish-white spot that was almost invisible to the eye.

“You’re just at the 4 weeks mark,” Dr. Kim informed him.  She took a screenshot of the image on the screen, highlighting the background so the tiny spot could be more easily seen and printed a copy for him.

“Oh,” Baekhyun whispered as he held the small picture in his hands.  He suddenly couldn’t see it due to his tears clouding his vision and he tearfully laughed as he wiped at his eyes, “I’m having a baby,” he whispered.

“Congratulations, Baekhyun,” Dr. Kim smiled happily.

Baekhyun cradled the picture in his hands, still staring down at the slightly blurry image of his forming baby and his heart danced in his chest.

“Shall we bring the soon to be father in as well?” Dr. Kim asked him.

That’s when Baekhyun joy froze in place; he thought he was going to whiteout from the sheer anxiety that overcame him as he had no idea how to tell Chanyeol the news.

“No, no that’s okay,” Baekhyun told her.  He saw Dr. Kim’s confusion, “I don’t think you’d want a crying giant in your lobby.”

Dr. Kim laughed at the joke, “Oh, of course, home is a much safer place.”

Baekhyun agreed with her and carefully stuck the picture in his wallet, “So my next appointment?”

“Yes, let’s get you scheduled in four weeks or so, when there’s more development,” Dr. Kim stated.  “After your first trimester, we’ll space the appointments out to once a month to just check on your health and the fetus’ growth.”

Baekhyun felt a little dizzy to think that he’d get that far.  He had cleaned his abdomen off gently, scared that he’d hurt his little baby that was a speck in his womb.  He stood on shaky legs; he hadn’t been this nervous since he first debuted with EXO and now he was entering another whole life altering chapter, but this one felt closer to him, as it was growing from within him.

As he left the room, he wondered how and when he was going to tell Chanyeol this.  When he saw him, his brain froze, his mouth didn’t move as Chanyeol came up to him, the look of worry written on his face.

“Are you going to be okay?” Chanyeol asked him.

“Yes,” Baekhyun said and he meant it, he’d be fine as long as he kept their unborn child a secret a little longer.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, soooo my chapters aren't going to be as long as chapter 1, because I hardly made it through my own fic lmao, I have the shortest attention span.
> 
> I'll try to make them 3k-5k and I'll start regularly updating on Fridays.
> 
> This is just a bonus chapter because I love my best friend/roommate c: 
> 
> There will be an update next Friday, since I posted two chapters this week and I need some time to finish chapter 3.
> 
> Thank you to all who leave comments/kudos, or both!~~

Baekhyun silently told himself that he just wasn’t ready for Chanyeol to know yet, he didn’t want to tell Chanyeol at his doctor’s office because he didn’t want to overwhelm him in public, he debated telling him when they got back to the dorm too, but he remembered that Chanyeol had an exhausting event the other day and the following day he was going into the studio to finish up touches on their final album, as their contract was finishing up in three months.

He told himself that he’d tell Chanyeol after production was finally done; production finished four weeks ago, and Baekhyun still said nothing.  He saw the way Sehun glanced at him and he ignored the looks Sehun sent his way, the youngest wanted to know if Baekhyun was with child and if he had told Chanyeol, which he clearly figured out Baekhyun hadn’t said a word or else it would have been the only thing Chanyeol would have been talking about for the next infinity.

Now currently, he was heading off to his next appointment this time and he only assumed that his baby was changing in growth as he was a little bloated more than usual and his chest occasionally tingled in discomfort, but that stinging pain only occurred if he wore a snugger shirt or when Chanyeol got too handsy with him.

Chanyeol was still asleep and Baekhyun snuck out of bed, he showered and got ready quietly before meeting a driver of the company, as he did not want to bother their manager at this early of the day. 

He was reading on his phone to pass the time, the driver didn’t say much, he just kept the radio on, listening to the news to cancel out the quietness; Baekhyun didn’t mind because he was already looking up baby names for both genders and he knew this was going to be difficult because so many of them were adorable and would go great with Chanyeol’s last name.

“Please message me when you’re finished with your appointment,” the driver asked Baekhyun as he pulled them up to the curb to drop Baekhyun off.

Baekhyun confirmed that he would before hopping out of the car and went inside and crossed over to the receptionist’s window and checked in before taking a seat and he frowned at how lonely he suddenly was without Chanyeol being next to him.

He sat there for a total of twenty minutes; he was being an anxious mess because he was pushing eight weeks now and he noticed a small change in his weight; it wasn’t noticeable, nor was he showing yet, but it was still a sign that he had life growing from within him and he was ready to see how far along his baby had grown.

Baekhyun had looked up the size of how big his baby was at this point on Google and he felt his eyes water when his baby was only the size of a kidney bean, a raspberry at most and he nearly cried at how tiny his baby was, because that was _his_ kidney bean/raspberry sized child.

Another thing he had noticed with pregnancy, his extremely hormonal state how he’d be extremely teary one second before bouncing back to his overly sunny personality; he thought he was giving Chanyeol and the rest of his group whiplash.

Sehun was still the only one to know why Baekhyun was acting the way he was; he confirmed it when he saw Baekhyun humming softly to himself as he kept a protective hand over his belly.

It had been a private moment, but Baekhyun hadn’t minded, he knew he should be more careful because he shared a dorm with eight other boys, and he didn’t miss the fact that Sehun had looked a bit disappointed, but didn’t voice it, not that Baekhyun needed him to say anything as he already knew what Sehun had been wanting to say.

Baekhyun’s recent musing had been interrupted by his name being called and he looked up and saw his nurse standing at the door, waving him in.  He got up and followed her to his examination room and he again got his weight taken and now he was getting his blood pressure measured.

“You’re blood pressure is a little high,” Nurse Rey commented as she wrote down the numbers.

“We’re uh, I can tell you because it’s confidential between you and I, but we’re preparing to drop our latest album,” Baekhyun shared with her.

“Oh, please make sure that you’re taking your health into consideration,” Nurse Rey said.  “For you and your baby.”

“We’ve finished our music videos and have practiced our routines, these dances aren’t as hard on the body as our previous work have been,” Baekhyun reassured her. 

“It’s still wise to not push your body, as it is going to be using most of your energy to change and house your baby,” Nurse Rey informed the idol. 

“I will be sure not to strain myself,” Baekhyun replied.

Dr. Kim arrived soon after and she thanked the nurse for her help before getting Baekhyun set up again, “Are you excited to see the growth?” she asked.  “Your baby will still be very small, about the size of kidney bean, but more visible than the first stage we saw.”

Baekhyun nodded happily and relaxed as he was examined again and this time he saw his baby, it was very small as he expected, but nonetheless the giddiness and teary eyes still overcame him and he was sat there, staring at his and Chanyeol’s baby.

“You may be far enough along to hear your baby’s heartbeat too,” Dr. Kim told him.

 _Chanyeol should be here for this._   Baekhyun’s thought cut off his agreeing statement that he wanted to hear the heartbeat, “I would love to hear it, but…Chanyeol would love to hear it as well.”

“Oh, should I grab him from the lobby?” Dr. Kim asked as she sat the wand down.

Baekhyun watched the monitor fade to black and he looked away from it, “He’s not with me today.”

Dr. Kim gave him a studying look before finally asking, “Have you not informed him yet?”  She hardly knew Chanyeol, but from the way he had been dedicated to go with Baekhyun to each of his appointments, she knew he was protective over Baekhyun, when she would take Baekhyun back out to the waiting room, Chanyeol would immediately be up and heading towards Baekhyun, concern written on his face until Baekhyun confirmed that he was fine, she saw the way his shoulders visibly slumped with relief and how he’d still cautiously reach out and put a hand on his shoulder or waist.

“No, not yet,” Baekhyun murmured, lowering his gaze.  “We are going to dinner this Friday for a make-up birthday dinner for me, since we had both had to do promotion interviews on my birthday.  I think I will tell him then, when it’s just us.”

“I think that would be a nice surprise for him, a gift dinner for you and a gift for him,” Dr. Kim agreed.  She took another picture of the growth progress and printed off a copy for him and handed to him after he cleaned himself up, “You’re almost through your first trimester, you’ve still have some time left before your baby is ready to arrive.”

Baekhyun knew that his baby wasn’t going to be due until December, and it was almost mid-May, it was just a week after his birthday.  He made his next appointment and text his driver that he was ready to leave and as he was waiting, he saw that he had three texts from Chanyeol and a missed call from him and Baekhyun called him back.

Chanyeol answered on the first ring and his question where Baekhyun was nearly in a hysterical tone.

“I’m fine, Yeollie, I just had another appointment, but everything is okay,” Baekhyun soothed him as he got into the car.

“You’re going to the doctor’s a lot, are you sure that you’re in good health?” Chanyeol asked him hesitantly.  “Should we reschedule dinner to next Friday?”

“I am fine, I promise and no, that’s only one of the two days we actually have off this month,” Baekhyun reminded him.  “I’ll be home in ten minutes or so, you can yell at me then.”

“I’m not going to snap at you, but it would have been nice for you to leave or note or text me,” Chanyeol said a little stiffly.

Baekhyun pouted at the stiff tone Chanyeol used, “I’m sorry, Chan, I really didn’t mean to worry you.”

“I know you are your own adult, but I will worry about you when you suddenly vanish, just shoot me a text next time, Baek,” Chanyeol said much gentler this time.  “I’ll see you when you get home, love you.”

“Love you too,” Baekhyun responded and let Chanyeol end their call.  He drummed his fingers anxiously on his knee; if Chanyeol had reacted like that from him being gone for almost two hours, he couldn’t imagine how he’d react if Baekhyun told him he was a month and a half pregnant.

He decided that would tell Chanyeol during their dinner on Friday.

“No more hiding,” Baekhyun whispered to himself as he headed into the SM building and took the elevator up to the EXO dorm.

Chanyeol hadn’t been angry, he greeted Baekhyun at the door and gave him a couple kisses and hugged him close, “Sorry for snapping on the phone, you’re not a little kid,” he bashfully apologized.

“You’re fine,” Baekhyun shrugged off his apology.

“Anything new?” Chanyeol asked, he looked for any paperwork that Baekhyun might have taken with him, but he was emptyhanded, which Chanyeol couldn’t tell if that was a good or a bad thing. 

Baekhyun shook his head, “No, but I am feeling hungry, I’m getting my appetite back,” he said as he started towards the kitchen.

“Kyungsoo just made lunch for everyone, he seems to be in a good mood because he made a heap of kimbap and rice for us,” Chanyeol said. 

They saw that Jongdae and Jongin were still at the dining table, finishing up their lunch, Sehun was helping JunMyeon with the dishes, and Minseok was making green tea.

“Would you like some?” Minseok asked when he saw Baekhyun come into the kitchen.

Baekhyun nodded and thanked him, while Chanyeol started to make him a plate.  He saw Jongin’s small pout of having to share, he just ruffled his hair and heard Jongin’s grumble at him.  He sat down and Chanyeol took the seat next to him and soon he had a cup of fresh tea waiting for him, “Mm, thank you.”

“Kyungsoo made it all,” Jongin said happily.

“I figured, Jongdae is probably the next capable person to cook something so nice,” Baekhyun mused.  He hummed to himself thoughtfully, _I will have to start watching them to pick up any new food ideas._

He knew how to cook basic things and knew how to make more advanced meals that required extra preparation time, but he didn’t want to burn his boyfriend and their future child out on the same basic meals.  Baekhyun knew that Chanyeol could make tasty meals too, maybe he’d try future recipes once they got their own place, as it was Kyungsoo who ruled the kitchen the majority of the time in the dorm and Chanyeol didn’t want to step on any toes.

Baekhyun ate lightly, he had to pick some of the beef out of the kimbap and passed it over to Jongin, who gave him a curious stare, “I just don’t want to upset my stomach with too much beef,” he said.

Chanyeol ate much reluctantly when Baekhyun fed him, feeling bad for taking his food, “Do you have to limit protein intake?” he asked Baekhyun.

“Yes, I can’t eat much fish, I can eat cooked sushi, but that has to be limited too, and I have to eat plenty of fresh produce, nothing prepackaged,” Baekhyun told him.

“Then should we go to dinner this Friday?” Chanyeol asked him.

Sehun glanced back at Baekhyun, eyebrows raised as he dried off a plate, JunMyeon just looked confused and looked at Minseok, who just shrugged, and Jongin was eyeing Baekhyun suspiciously, and Jongdae looked mournful that Baekhyun was limiting himself on his food intake.

“Yea, I’ll be fine,” Baekhyun reassured him.  He finished his lunch and sipped the rest of his tea; his stomach wasn’t flipping around for once and he felt full and wanted to nap now.  He cleaned up his plate and mug as Sehun and JunMyeon had finished doing dishes and he saw Chanyeol lurking, “Chan, you’re hovering.”

“Sorry,” Chanyeol sheepishly said.  He left the kitchen to give Baekhyun space and flopped onto the couch text to Jongin, who was playing a game on his phone, “Has he been acting off to you?” he whispered.

Jongin turned his head to glance at him before looking back down at his game, “I mean, he’s been acting _something_ for the last few weeks.”

“Why do you say that when you may have an idea what’s wrong with him?” Chanyeol asked.

“Jongin, I need you for a second, sorry, Hyung,” Sehun spoke up and was pulling Jongin off the couch, who was trying to gain his footing.  He apologized to Chanyeol again as he dragged Jongin towards the den and the door shut with a rattle.

“What was that about?” Baekhyun poked his head in the living room from the noise.

Chanyeol gave him a helpless shrug, “Sehun’s being weird again.”

“When isn’t he odd?” Baekhyun asked, grinning.  “I’m going to lie down for a bit, I ate too much,” he gingerly patted his belly.  He laughed when Chanyeol swooped up behind him and hugged him lightly around the middle, “Yah, I’m tired!”

“I know, sorry, sorry,” Chanyeol mused, kissing Baekhyun’s cheek.  “Go get some rest, I’ll come to bed later, I’m wide awake.”

“Don’t stay up too late, we have to get up early tomorrow and get ready to go the studio,” Baekhyun reminded him, turning to poke Chanyeol on his nose.  He gave him a loud kiss that he heard Jongdae fake gagging from the recliner, “Mwah, I love you, good night!” he sang.

“It’s only 2!” Chanyeol squeezed Baekhyun’s sides and laughed when he shrieked at the ticklish sensation.

Baekhyun ran away from him, “But I’ve been up all this morning getting poked and prodded at.”

“Okay, but I’m waking you for dinner, you need to eat,” Chanyeol easily relented.  He gave Baekhyun a much sweeter kiss before turning him around and patted his bum to get him moving towards their bedroom.

Baekhyun went without a fuss; he was truly tired.  He walked down the hall when Kyungsoo emerged from his bedroom, a towel was draped over his neck, “Kyungsoo, there you are,” he smiled, “I wanted to thank you for lunch, it was really good.”

“I didn’t add too much meat did for you?  I know you have to watch yourself,” Kyungsoo asked him.

Baekhyun looked at him with a confused expression, “…How do you know about my diet?”

Kyungsoo dropped his eyes to Baekhyun’s midsection before looking back up at Baekhyun and saw the startled expression form across Baekhyun’s face and before he could say anything, Baekhyun was pushing him back into his and Jongin’s bedroom and shutting the door, “Hey!” Kyungsoo growled.  “What was that about?”

“How do you know about me?” Baekhyun demanded.

Kyungsoo blinked at genuine anger Baekhyun was expressing, “I was told, well, I mostly figured it out by myself.”

“Sehun told you?” Baekhyun asked in disbelief and then he saw Kyungsoo’s confusion.

“No, Jongin commented on your weirdness one day, he said he saw it happening to his sister when she had been pregnant and he didn’t know how to approach you on the matter, I just did some reading and thought that you were expecting, but now you’ve just confirmed it for me,” Kyungsoo explained to him.

“You’re scarily observant,” Baekhyun got goosebumps at the wicked gleam in Kyungsoo’s eyes.

“Sehun knows, too? I’m assuming Chanyeol doesn’t know, because we all know he can’t keep a secret for long, especially something like this,” Kyungsoo mused.

Baekhyun nodded meekly, “It was about five weeks ago when I told Sehun, because I was getting the results of my bloodwork, my doctor wanted to talk to me in person immediately and I freaked out.  I haven’t told Chanyeol yet…but I plan on telling him this Friday.”

“You better tell him soon, he’ll be upset if you hide it any longer and if he’s the last to know,” Kyungsoo chided him.

“I know, I will,” Baekhyun sighed.  “This is a big deal and I don’t want him to freak out more, he’s been feeling overwhelmed with our last album.”

“Well, he should put his priorities first; EXO is a fleeting thing, you’re having his kid, which is forever,” Kyungsoo reminded him.

“You’re so mushy,” Baekhyun teased him and he still jumped when Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes at him.  “I’m just teasing!”

Kyungsoo still grumbled at him, “Go nap, you’re going to need at the rest you can get; I may have read too much on what will happen to the body when its adjusting to grow another human being,” he did a whole-body shiver.

“I get those talks from my doctor,” Baekhyun gave him a sympathetic pat.  “Oh, but you won’t say anything will you?”

“This is your baby, Baekhyun, your surprise, you know you have to tell Chanyeol, maybe let the rest of the group know later and not when you’re sending Christmas cards with the newest addition to your family on it,” Kyungsoo mused.

Baekhyun’s eyes sparkled, “You gave me the most wonderful idea for cards and I’ll continue this future tradition even when I’m a grandpa.”

“I’ve created a monster,” Kyungsoo groaned.

Baekhyun just smiled and thanked him before letting Kyungsoo gently push him out of the bedroom and marched him to his own bedroom.  He got undressed to change into something comfortable and he wondered if he was going to be stuck with sweatpants until the end of his pregnancy, because in the next couple of months, he didn’t know if he’d able to wear his normal jeans.

He’d crisis about that later, instead he just slept in a shirt and boxer-briefs, he wrapped himself around his body pillow and wiggled around to get situated; Baekhyun must have been much more tired than he thought because he didn’t even have to watch anything on his phone to fall asleep.

~~~

Chanyeol remained in the living room, watching a soccer game with Jongdae, he looked up when he saw the den door open and Jongin looked flustered and hurried away, Sehun just looked unamused per usual and gave Chanyeol a calculative stare before vanishing down the hall.

“I’m starting to worry he’s going to become a psychopath,” Jongdae whispered when he had watched the door open too. 

“He’s been giving me odd looks lately, maybe I’ll be first victim, but he doesn’t know how to do it because Baekhyun and I are together,” Chanyeol shrugged at him.

Jongdae shook his head, “He wouldn’t consider either of your feelings.”

An icy chill ran up Chanyeol’s spine, “Maybe I should go check on Baekhyun, Sehun’s room is just a door away from ours.”

“If you don’t return in ten minutes, I’ll avenge you…maybe,” Jongdae snickered.

“You’re cruel,” Chanyeol muttered under his breath and snuck down the hall to where his and Baekhyun’s bedroom was.  He saw that the door was closed and he slowly opened it and looked behind the door and saw that no one else was in the room other than Baekhyun. 

He didn’t see hide nor hair of a possibly murder in training maeknae and he lowered his guard.  Chanyeol tutted softly when he saw that Baekhyun had just kept his clothes in a pile on the ground, he picked up the shirt and put it in the hamper and grabbed his jeans next and checked the pockets and pulled out an appointment card that was for next month, which he was thought was odd and frowned, he put that on the computer desk and then tossed Baekhyun’s wallet there next, he saw two more cards fall out of it, due to the wallet being fairly old, it was a prize that Chanyeol had won him at a fair almost three years ago.

Chanyeol bent to pick up the cards, he flipped them over and he blinked at them; they were black and white photos, the majority of it was dark with only some parts were lit up and there was a time and date at the top with Baekhyun’s last name and his first initial.

He compared the two images, looking at the oldest one and comparing it to the new one that was dated with the current date on it and he saw a change of growth after squinting between them, the second picture was still slightly fuzzy but the dot was much bigger than the first picture.  He could have sworn he saw these before, but he couldn’t remember where and he thought back to when he saw something similar.

It finally clicked, his older sister had showed him ultrasounds of his nephew a few years ago, she had showed him the progress of her baby when Chanyeol had come home for the holidays, and he had looked at each picture carefully when his sister was pointing out where the fetus was and showed how much he had grown.

The ultrasound photos dropped onto the desktop table when Chanyeol let go in shock; he thought he was short circuiting from this new information.  He looked back to the lump of blankets that Baekhyun was buried under before slowly looking back at the ultrasounds.  He thought he was going to collapse and he quickly sat down at the desk chair, slowly breathing in an out and held his head between in his hands.

He was going to be a father.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday!~

Minseok was nearly barreled over by Chanyeol, who swept through the living room like he was running from something, and he was expecting a pissed Kyungsoo to be stalking after the taller boy.

“Hyung, please wake Baekhyun when it’s close to dinner, I have to go somewhere, bye,” Chanyeol rushed out as he hopped on one foot to pull on one sneaker before doing the same to the other foot and then he was out the door.

Minseok just blinked where he imagined the cartoon dust silhouette would be after Chanyeol had rushed off.  He looked back to Jongdae, who was still on the couch, but had paused from his reading, “What was that about?”

Jongdae shrugged, “Emergency run?  I don’t know,” he went back to reading on his tablet.

Minseok thought they were all losing their minds, especially when Jongdae tried to convince him that Sehun was actually a murderer.  He turned from the door and saw Sehun lurking just around the corner, staring intently where Chanyeol had been before slipping behind the corner and out of sight.  The eldest may have shot quickly to the couch and sat extra close to Jongdae and resisted the urge to shiver in fear at Jongdae possibly being correct; he was almost too afraid to go to Baekhyun’s room by himself.

In the end, around 6 in the evening, Minseok had Jongdae go with him as they stealthily crept towards where Baekhyun’s room was, but they didn’t see Sehun anywhere and his bedroom door was closed.

Jongdae gently shook Baekhyun awake, patting in on the cheek and muffled his laughter when Baekhyun’s nose scrunched up and he was moving away when Baekhyun slowly sat up, “You sleep like the dead.”

“I’ve been really tired,” Baekhyun yawned.  “You should know this by now.”

“Whatever, come on, dinner is ready, JunMyeon-Hyung made dinner this time,” Jongdae told him. 

Minseok grabbed back onto Jongdae’s arm when they left the bedroom and looked back worriedly at Baekhyun, for the fear of leaving him alone with the door open.

“Age must be getting to him,” Baekhyun murmured as he slowly got out of bed.  He wondered why Chanyeol hadn’t woken him, but he didn’t dwell on it and grabbed his phone.  He froze when he saw his wallet and appointment card sitting on the desk and he quickly went over to his wallet, he checked for his pictures and sighed in relief when they were still there and hadn’t slid out when Chanyeol moved his things.

He pulled on some sweat pants and left the bedroom and headed to the kitchen where he saw Kyungsoo and Jongin putting the food on the table and Sehun was getting plates for everyone.  Baekhyun looked around for Chanyeol but didn’t see him in the living room and he check the den where all their manga, movies, and books were, but he wasn’t in there either.

“If you’re looking for Chanyeol, he fled the apartment about a couple hours ago,” Jongdae said when Baekhyun had wandered back into the kitchen. 

“Did he say where he was going?” Baekhyun asked, concern on his face.

Minseok shook his head, “No, he just told me to wake you for dinner.”

Baekhyun got out his phone and went to text him.

“Hyung, you worry too much,” Sehun stated as he sat a glass of water next to him and small mug of green tea.

Baekhyun frowned at him, “He’s being a hypocrite, he can’t chide me for going off on my own without a word and not text him, but it’s okay if he does?”

Kyungsoo watched him nervously rub a hand over his stomach absentmindedly and he glanced around and his eyes met Sehun, who glanced quickly at Baekhyun, before looking back at Kyungsoo, he nodded to the younger and gave Baekhyun his attention, “Text him then.”

Baekhyun didn’t have to be told twice.  He texted him that dinner was ready and that they were waiting on him, which wasn’t true, because Jongdae was already shoving noodles into his mouth and JunMyeon was starting his second cup of tea.

The rest the group settled at the table, while Baekhyun glanced at his phone every few minutes to see if he had a notification.  He picked at his chicken stir-fry, while everyone else was happily munching away and making conversation, JunMyeon tried to drag him into the conversation, but Baekhyun only answered with hums and the occasional nod.

“You’re worrying over nothing, Chanyeol can handle himself,” Kyungsoo sighed.  He pointed expectantly at Baekhyun’s barely eaten food, “Yah, eat!  JunMyeon-Hyung didn’t make this to be wasted because of worries, Chanyeol will be fine.”

“You’d be worried too if Jongin just vanished without a word,” Baekhyun grumbled as he shoved some carrot pieces into his mouth.

Kyungsoo looked over to Jongin, his boyfriend was pouting, “Hm, he’s not wrong, because you get lost turning down a different hall here.”

“Rude,” Jongin pouted at him.

Finally, Baekhyun did ease into conversation, he chatted with Sehun and got into a half-heated debate with Jongdae before JunMyeon was becoming the peace keeper and distracted them with news of Yixing, who was doing a charity event next weekend, and JunMyeon asked if any of them wanted to go.

Sehun immediately agreed and a small blush formed on his face, “What?  Luhan is going to be there too, I talked to him a couple days ago about it.”

Jongin happily nodded, “It would be nice to see Yixing-Hyung again, I want to practice our new routine with him, since he was learning remotely.”

Kyungsoo couldn’t go that following weekend, he had rehearsals for the new tv-show drama he was going to be in; he was a little upset to miss Yixing and Luhan, but he asked Jongin to give them hugs for him.

Minseok and Jongdae eagerly agreed, they wanted to see their former group-mate and see their other friend too, because while Yixing still did come back for EXO related things, he spent the majority of his time in Beijing for solo work.

 JunMyeon also said that he was going, “We haven’t been to China in some time, it would be nice to see a familiar second home again,” he told them.  He looked at Baekhyun, “Are you and Chanyeol going?”

Baekhyun felt a little sickly; he had never been keen on flying, even after nearly ten years he still hated it, and he usually took a sleeping aid when onboard, but he didn’t think he could take them now that he was expecting.  He wasn’t for certain about Chanyeol, he knew that his boyfriend would be excited to see Yixing and possibly Luhan too, “I can’t speak for him, but I’ll ask him if he wants to go.”

“And you?” Jongdae prompted.

Jongin and Kyungsoo simultaneously gave Jongdae a stern look that had the older man shrinking in his chair a bit.

 _Well, Jongin must have figured it out too._   Baekhyun thought with a small frown, “I’m not certain yet, I’m, uh, taking medication for my weird sickness and they make me really tired and I’m not for sure how I’d react if I was on a plane, my doctor warned me about elevation sickness, since we travel a lot,” he smoothly lied and he saw the slightly impressed look Sehun was giving him.

“That’s awful,” Jongin frowned unhappily.

“If you’re not going, then I doubt Chanyeol will go,” Minseok stated.

Baekhyun looked over to him, “Chanyeol and I aren’t sewn to the hip, he probably will go.”

“Wanna bet on it?” Minseok’s eyes glinted at the challenge.

“Not really,” Baekhyun sheepishly replied.

“Because you two are married without the marriage part,” Jongdae teased him,

JunMyeon fondly rolled his eyes, “Alright, enough with the teasing.”

“Thank you, Hyung, they’re so mean,” Baekhyun mused.  His eyes sparkled when he looked at the group leader, “Hyung, are you doing anything special for your upcoming birthday?”

“He’s right, you’re now turning the big three-zero,” Jongin smiled brightly at JunMyeon’s quiet groan of despair.

“Not so fun, is it?” Minseok asked him, giving him a smug look.

“Oh, shush,” JunMyeon grumbled.  He gave Baekhyun a betrayed look, “I tried to save you and you thrown me under the bus with my age?”

Baekhyun merely gave him a sharp smile.

The conversation had shifted to JunMyeon and Baekhyun was grateful for that because he saw his phone light up and it was a text from Chanyeol, he picked up his phone and opened his messenger app, he frowned at the response that came to him almost an hour later.

_‘Sorry, family crisis.  I’ll be home later or tomorrow, don’t wait up. xx – pcy’_

Baekhyun frowned at that, Chanyeol’s message was nonchalant, so it couldn’t have been a dire emergency, he caught Kyungsoo’s questioning stare, “It was Chanyeol, he’s with his family, he said that there was a family situation.”

“We would tell our manager about it, I doubt Chanyeol will make it in time for the radio show tomorrow morning,” JunMyeon said as he pulled out his phone.

“Did he give details?” Sehun asked.

Baekhyun shook his head, “He just said that he’d be back here late tonight or tomorrow, he didn’t give any specific time.”

“I hope everything is okay,” Jongdae said.  He would text Chanyeol later and make sure he was okay before he went to bed.

They all finished dinner after that, Baekhyun was struggling to keep his eyes open and even though he loved his unborn child with every fiber of his being, he was getting a little aggravated of being exhausted the moment he opened his eyes from either a night’s worth of rest or after the naps he took throughout the day.

He helped clean up regardless, he could sense Kyungsoo already starting to hover when Baekhyun stood on his tiptoes to put some plates away, and Kyungsoo asked Jongin to do it.  He gave Kyungsoo a warning look, who just averted his eyes, while hastily cleaning before Baekhyun could even step foot in the general direction of what needed to be cleaned.

Sehun was doing the same, he went to the trash bin and removed the full bag within seconds when Baekhyun went to walk over and take the trash out and scurried out the dorm before Baekhyun could even say anything.

This is why Baekhyun didn’t want to tell anyone just yet, because the ones who already knew were starting to treat him as an invalid and doing things for him before he could even start the task.

He didn’t even want to imagine how Chanyeol would act, Baekhyun was nervous that Chanyeol would make him sit in a wheelchair and push him everywhere and open all his water bottles for him and divide his food; it was a personal horror film of Baekhyun’s that he knew that was just waiting to be made.

He only dreaded it because Chanyeol already had been slightly overbearing, making sure that Baekhyun had eaten plenty, keeping him within reach when they walked through the airport, but he was still playful with Baekhyun, squeezing him into tight hugs, slapping his arms and back playfully when he got overly excited or was laughing until he was red in the face, but when he and Chanyeol started to date, Chanyeol’s actions became much gentler, which Baekhyun hadn’t minded that, he liked not having small bruises from where Chanyeol got a little too slap happy, but he knew Chanyeol’s view had started to change of him, he wasn’t just a friend he could roughhouse with banter with, Baekhyun was his boyfriend now, which meant not only does his boyfriend still get that playful side with him, Baekhyun needed emotional support and softer affection, and vice versa.

He ended up on the couch, curled up on one side, Sehun in the recliner, and Kyungsoo took the other side of the couch, they were watching some drama show that had apparently been a big hit, but none of them had watched it.

Baekhyun wasn’t really watching it, he was spaced out and worrying about exposing his pregnancy and what he was going to do; he hadn’t really had time to dwell on it as he spent the majority of his time sleeping or working on EXO related things.

Kyungsoo finally looked over to Baekhyun, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t pry, but what are your plans for this?”

Baekhyun looked over to him and slowly sat up to give him his attention, he sat with his legs crossed on the cushion and he shrugged, “I don’t know, I am keeping it, of course.  Chanyeol and I will just have to figure out what we plan on doing.”

“You two were looking for houses, weren’t you?” Sehun asked.

“Yea, we found a nice location about 20 minutes from here.  The neighborhood we checked for the second house we looked at is very nice.  Everything is within range of walking distance, ten minutes at most if we don’t feel like driving,” Baekhyun informed them.  “The house itself is spaced from the other houses, like the rest are on the block, it has a main floor, upper floor, and a basement, there’s four bedrooms and three-and-half bathrooms, it has a laundry room that’s connected to the kitchen, which the kitchen is very spacious, the backyard has a privacy fence already built, there’s a deck too, and the yard size is nice, so I know that Mongryong and Toben will have plenty of space to play if our families will ever let us have them again,” he joked lightly at the end.

Their dogs mainly stayed with their families, as their schedules had been extremely hectic, and for the both of them, they noticed that their parents had gotten attached to their son’s puppies, so they would just visit their families and their dogs.

“It sounds perfect for you, did you guys put an offer in for it?” Kyungsoo asked him.

Baekhyun shook his head, a glum expression on his face, “It is a nice house, but the problem is _me_.”

Sehun looked confused as did Kyungsoo.

“I got nervous because the realtor kept mentioning how it was a _family_ friendly house, how there was so much storage for holiday clutter and whatnot, and the space a growing family will need, how the schools are close and are carefully watched over, and how we wouldn’t have to worry about our kids wandering off because of the fences in the backyard, and that this neighborhood had the least amount of criminal history, and that there was a patrol of the neighborhood throughout the week to keep a safer environment, family this and family that,” Baekhyun said a little harshly.  “That was a few months ago, and I had just shut down after the tour, Chanyeol asked what was wrong and I told him, I was scared to have a family.”

Kyungsoo gave him a sympathetic look, “Baekhyun, don’t think that you’re the only person in the world to feel that way.”

“But Chanyeol doesn’t feel that way, I see the way he looks at other couples with their kids, he wants to be a father so bad and now he’s going to be one, but I’m scared that I will fail to be a good parent to our baby,” Baekhyun brought his knees up, he could feel the very small bump that was now starting to protrude and that small reminder made his guilt worsen.

“Hyung, you don’t that,” Sehun frowned.  “You won’t be alone, you’ll have us, but more importantly, you have Chanyeol, he won’t ever let you feel like that.”

Kyungsoo was agreeing with Sehun, “You two will have each other and if you two need help, we’ll just be a text or call away.”

“I can’t do that to you guys either,” Baekhyun said quietly, eyes blurring as he glared straight out in front of him at the DVD stand.  “I won’t burden you with my emotional issues and I certainly won’t burden you with my child.”

“Baekhyun—” Kyungsoo started and stopped when Minseok came into the living room, sleepily passing by to the kitchen to most likely get a drink of water.

Baekhyun just shook his head and got up, “I’m going to bed, I’m sorry for acting like this,” he apologized and quietly left, even when Sehun gently called out for him.

The two just shared a worried look as they let Baekhyun disappear to his bedroom; they would just have to wait and see how things would unfold.

Baekhyun washed his face and brushed his teeth before going into his bedroom, he took off his sweatpants again and curled back into the hole he had wiggled out of earlier and sighed tiredly, he checked his phone before he put it on the charger and saw that Chanyeol had not sent any other messages.

He stifled back a sob; he wanted Chanyeol and hug him close and just confess how he felt and all his worries, he wanted to feel Chanyeol’s warm hand rubbing at the barely visible bump that would slowly get bigger over time, he wanted to listen to Chanyeol sing quietly into the dark as it always soothed Baekhyun; he wanted so much of his boyfriend, but he felt awful for it because he couldn’t even tell Chanyeol the news of what he probably wanted to hear most.

For the first time, he fell into a fitful sleep that he kept waking up at random moments during the night and he was chilly because his space heater of a boyfriend had not returned home that night either.

Baekhyun was stirred from his half-conscious state from the muffled yelling he could hear from outside of his bedroom door; it was Jongdae per usual, as Baekhyun would only be able to hear him clearly, not that he could judge, he could get pretty loud too.

He stumbled out of bed and waiting for the blood rush to fade before he was poking his head out the door and he squinted down the hall and saw and heard Jongdae yelling at someone through the bathroom door.  He threw a slipper at him, “You’re too noisy,” Baekhyun complained.

“You’re calling me noisy?” Jongdae asked with disbelief.  He went to rip into him with some remarks, but hesitated at the dark circles under his eyes, the puffiness of his cheeks and eyes, and just how exhausted he look, “Jesus, you’re literally the walking definition of dead on your feet, are you okay?”

“I didn’t sleep well,” Baekhyun admitted as he rubbed at his eyes.

Jongdae picked up the pink slipper and tossed it into Baekhyun’s room when he got close enough, “Hard to sleep without your long body-pillow?” he joked, but only got a grumble in response.

“Whatever, I’m going to shower,” Baekhyun said as he grabbed his towel.

“Good luck, Minseok has hogged the other bathroom and Jongin has been in the bathroom over here for over an hour, so without a doubt, he’s in there with Kyungsoo,” Jongdae scowled.

“Then why don’t you shower with Minseok-Hyung?” Baekhyun blinked at him.

“He loves his privacy as much as I do,” Jongdae reminded him, “unlike a certain someone I know who likes to invade showers when they’re currently occupied.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Baekhyun sweetly replied.

“Uh-huh,” Jongdae gave him a blank stare. 

“To be fair, I haven’t done that anymore after Chanyeol and I got together,” Baekhyun defended himself.

“Because Chanyeol gets irrationally jealous even if you pay a slight bit more of attention to any of us than him,” Jongdae rolled his eyes.

Baekhyun was about to defend his boyfriend, but the pursed his lips after a moment and nodded, “Yea, you’re right.”

The two looked over to Jongin, who stumbled out of the bathroom with Kyungsoo in tow, the lead dancer grinned sheepishly at his two other friends, “Sorry!”

“You will be,” Jongdae growled and ran at them, Jongin squealed and ran away laughing, while Kyungsoo jogged more slowly, unthreatened by Jongdae’s shrill yapping at them.

Baekhyun took that chance to dive into the bathroom, and he knew how Kyungsoo was, he wouldn’t have done anything with Jongin in the shower for the fear of slipping and possibly braining himself.  He took a quick warm shower to just get it out of the way; he usually loved taking nice hot showers, but he was still feeling very tired and wanted to rest a little more before they headed to the radio show that would be live around 10 am.

After he got dressed back into his oversized shirt and sweatpants, he brushed his teeth and headed back to his bedroom to set aside an outfit for the day.  Baekhyun picked out another simple outfit, a dark T-Shirt, a red flannel, ripped black skinny jeans, and he set his designer high tops to the side.  He sat in front of his mirror and blow-dried his hair and styled it out of his face, he grimaced as he saw that he needed to get his roots touched up on again, the auburn he had right now was fading.  He moisturized his face and let his face dry for a couple minutes, he laid on his back as he read on his phone, his free hand resting over his tummy.

When his face was mostly dry again, he finished up with a light concealer and was glad that it helped even out his skin tone and covered the majority of the dark circles he had under his eyes; he still looked sleepy, but he didn’t look exhausted, borderline sickly anymore.

He got dressed and took his shoes out to the living room, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he checked it and he felt the subconscious tenseness in his shoulders and back lessen when he saw that it was from Chanyeol.

_‘I won’t make it the radio show, sorry, Hyunnie, but I will be back later tonight.  I talked to our manager and I promise it’s nothing to worry about.  Love you! xx – pcy_

Baekhyun text him back, telling him that he loved him and missed him and hoped that his family was doing okay before settling on the couch.  A sigh still escaped him and he scowled when Jongdae lightly flicked his cheek, “What?”

“You weaseled into the bathroom when I was chasing after Kyungsoo and Jongin,” Jongdae reminded him, poking him on the cheek still until Baekhyun slapped his hand away.

“I wasn’t going to wait while you had a hiss fit!” Baekhyun snapped.

Jongdae took a startled step back at the sudden hostility and saw that Baekhyun’s teeth were gritted, “Yah, what’s the matter with you?” he meant for it come out firmer, but his voice faltered from shock; Baekhyun never got snappish with them, not seriously at least.

Baekhyun blinked in realization at how harsh he had been and he suddenly felt guilty, “Jongdae, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you,” his voice trembled.  He felt his throat tightening and that surprised him, as he wasn’t an over emotional person, he took pride in being the overly cheerful person and he certainly did not feel like crying after snapping at one of group mates after they got on his nerves; pregnancy was going to ruin his controlled emotional flow.

“You’re really worrying me,” Jongdae murmured.

“I’m sorry, I really am,” Baekhyun apologized again.

Kyungsoo appeared at that time and he looked between them, he saw the tense line on Jongdae’s forehead and the watery sheen in Baekhyun’s eyes, “Are you two seriously fighting before we’re about to leave?” he demanded.

Jongdae looked over to Kyungsoo, he was still frowning, “No,” he muttered and with that, he walked away from them and down the hall.

“Are you all right?” Kyungsoo asked softly when Baekhyun let out a shuddery breath and hastily wiped at his eyes with his sleeves.

“I don’t know why I got so angry all of a sudden, I’ve never felt such true anger before like that, as if Jongdae had _really_ done something to piss me off,” Baekhyun whispered.

“Mood swings perhaps?” Kyungsoo lightly suggested.

“Maybe, it wouldn’t be a surprise at this point,” Baekhyun shrugged.  He slumped back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling, “I hope I don’t react like that on the radio show.”

“Then leave the talking to the rest of us,” Kyungsoo simply replied.

For once, Baekhyun was happy to let someone else do the talking.  He was the last to leave the dorm, Sehun trailing behind with him, Baekhyun was grateful that Sehun didn’t speak much, as he was still feeling sort of rubbed the wrong way and Sehun made a nice quiet buddy, along with Kyungsoo; people he could sit with in silence or nap on.

Sehun had been his nap buddy on the way to radio show, as he managed to tune out Jongdae and Jongin’s bickering, he was sat in the far back with Sehun and Kyungsoo, the middle row had Minseok, Jongin, and Jongdae, and the passenger seat was where JunMyeon sat.

Faintly, he heard Kyungsoo grumbling at the noisiness of the two and told his boyfriend and Jongdae to knock it off, ad Baekhyun just ducked his head against Sehun’s neck.  He blearily opened his eyes occasionally, he saw Sehun texting Luhan and Tao and he was too tired to even try to make sense what the conversation was about and just let his eyes remain unfocused and spaced out.

When they finally got there, Baekhyun felt like his mood had just dulled to nothing; he wasn’t irritated, nor was he in his usual bouncy mood.  He took the seat furthest away, and currently, his own personal bodyguard, A.K.A., Sehun took the seat next to him.  He greeted the host, who said that he was happy to have EXO on board before their retirement, Baekhyun just thanked him for allowing them to visit.

Soon after the introductions that felt like they had lasted an hour, the show started and Baekhyun was glad that the majority of the attention was focused on the others; he assumed that their manager had spoken to the radio host beforehand.  He did answer some questions that were sent his way, cracking a couple jokes, but he mostly just sat and listened; he found that he liked it better that way.

They played a few trivia games and sang a new song off their album live and answered some calls that came from fans, the whole thing was going pretty smooth, Baekhyun was glad that his stomach was rolling and that he felt awake for the first time in a long while.

As they wrapped up, Baekhyun checked his calendar and blinked in surprise when he saw that it was Friday and that he and Chanyeol had their reservation set for seven that night.  He suddenly frowned, because would Chanyeol even be back in time for it?

His mood slightly dampened at the thought of not having dinner with Chanyeol; he told himself to get over it, as Chanyeol had more important matters to attend to.  He was so distracted that he hadn’t even realized that they were already in the van and were heading back to their dorm.

“Manager-Hyung,” Jongin said, he got an answering hum, “can we grab lunch before going back to the dorm?”

Jongdae and Sehun were immediately on board with lunch and were asking what everyone wanted. 

Baekhyun’s stomach was flipping somewhat at the food that they were listing off and he jumped when Kyungsoo was lightly patting his knee; he had forgotten about his other personal bodyguard.  He didn’t feel too sick when they had agreed on a hibachi bar and was pleased that they were going to the one that was close to their dorm.

They all piled out and into the restaurant and took the main table, there were smaller tables around the main grill, some of those tables had other people at them, Baekhyun didn’t miss the fact that some of them immediately recognized them and got their phones out to take pictures.  He didn’t mind that they were constantly stopped and that pictures were taken, but due to the smaller addition within him was demanding and sucking the energy and patience from him, he felt the tiniest spark of annoyance that he forcefully locked down and took his seat next to Kyungsoo.

“Will you be able to eat most of this?” Kyungsoo asked when Baekhyun had picked up a menu.

“I’ll eat some of it, I might just grilled crab and vegetable sushi,” Baekhyun replied, looking over his options.  “If I eat a small portion more of meat than I’m supposed to it won’t be fatal, I just want to train myself into an early habit.”

Kyungsoo nodded approvingly, “I’ll share with you still.”

“Aw, thank you,” Baekhyun gave him a cute grin that had Kyungsoo light slap on the arm, which to him felt more like a pat.

Their chef and host of the grill was a joyful man, entertaining the group with flips and tossing some pieces of fish and meat to their plates, Baekhyun wished Chanyeol had been here, because his boyfriend would have loved it.  He saw a waitress come with his requested dish and he thanked her politely and shared some with Kyungsoo, who in return passed well cooked fish and meat to him.

Kyungsoo sighed when he saw Jongdae and Minseok sharing a bottle of soju that Sehun partook in as well, “It’s barely noon.”

Jongin laughed and pressed a kiss to Kyungsoo’s cheek, “You stress too much.”

“No, they just become annoying when they drink,” Kyungsoo grumbled.

Baekhyun just playfully poked Kyungsoo in the side, who jolted, “Maybe you need to take a couple drinks to relax.”

“No,” Kyungsoo gave him a stern glare that Baekhyun laughed at.

Jongin just fed Kyungsoo a grilled piece of meat to calm him and winked at Baekhyun, before he lightly rubbed at Kyungsoo’s back and went back into conversation with JunMyeon.

They had one last round of a show and Jongin was now taking shots of soju before their manager was telling them that it was time to finish up.  The group frantically scarfed down the rest of their lunch, thanked the chef, paid their bills and left generous tips for the chef, stacked their plates, and filed out of the restaurant.

More than half of them were about to fall into a food coma; Baekhyun appreciated that, as his head was hurting from all the sound from within the hibachi bar.  He rested his head on Jongin’s shoulder, who took middle seat this time, and just closed his eyes and tried to focus on that he was heading back to the dorm and he could properly relax.

When they reached the dorm, Baekhyun slid out first from being impatient, and pretty much left the rest of his group behind to get to the dorm, he greeted the door guards, who respectfully nodded to him, before heading down the hall, he did wait at the elevator and his manager was leading Kyungsoo, Jongin, and JunMyeon.

“The others went out,” Jongin said when he saw Baekhyun looking behind them.

Baekhyun looked bewildered, “Should they be out?  They had been drinking.”

JunMyeon sighed in exasperation, “That’s what I told them, but they said that they were fine.  They’re taking an Uber to the Han River to go walk around the parks and enjoy the day.”

“Soo, we should do that later,” Jongin smiled.  “And take our puppies out for a walk!”

Kyungsoo agreed with that, “But not for too long, Monggu has been grumpy about his back leg.”

Baekhyun just listened to Jongin list off the places he wanted to take Kyungsoo and their puppies, he thought it was sweet how he still got overly happy about doing simple things with his boyfriend.  He listened to their conversation fade from down the hall, he went to the restroom to brush his teeth as he didn’t like the lingering grill taste from the meat at the restaurant; he scrubbed his teeth until all he could taste was mint before swishing mouthwash for a minute and spat that out before rinsing the sink out and headed to his bedroom.

He didn’t remember shutting the door and opened it and was surprised to see Chanyeol on the made bed that he certainly hadn’t fixed this morning; Baekhyun saw that their room had been cleaned up and the bedroom window was open, a light breeze came through.

Chanyeol smiled and got off the bed, he immediately bent down for a kiss and grinned slightly in the kiss when he felt Baekhyun’s arms wrap around his shoulders.  He easily hiked Baekhyun up and felt his boyfriend’s legs tighten around his waist and he squeezed lightly at Baekhyun’s thighs as he kissed him slowly.

“Missed you,” Baekhyun murmured, brushing his nose against Chanyeol’s before kissing him again.  He felt all earlier tension and annoyance drain from him when he heard Chanyeol whisper that he missed him too, pressing chaste kisses to Baekhyun’s cheeks, forehead, and jaw before gently sitting him onto the bed.

“How was the radio show?” Chanyeol asked as he gingerly pushed Baekhyun’s flannel from his shoulders and moved to hang it up.

Baekhyun shrugged at him, “It was fine, but more importantly, is your family okay?  You didn’t specify what happened.”

“Oh, my sister just needed help with her son, my mom wasn’t able to watch him and my sister needed a sitter ASAP,” Chanyeol reassured him.  His heart warmed when he saw the relief that filtered across Baekhyun’s face, “Were you that worried?”

“Yes, I didn’t know what was going on,” Baekhyun frowned at him and he heard Chanyeol coo at him.  He laughed airily when Chanyeol lightly pushed him onto his back, “Yah, what do you think you’re doing?” he teasingly brought his legs up when Chanyeol’s fingers when for the button of his jeans.

“I’m going to hang your pants up because you seem to be in a mood of making nests of your clothes everywhere,” Chanyeol said, hands on Baekhyun’s hips to stop him from squirming away.

“Oh?  That’s it?” Baekhyun questioned him, raising an eyebrow at him.

“And…among other things I would like to do…with you and do to you,” Chanyeol finally admitted and undid the button of Baekhyun’s jeans.  “I feel bad for not keeping you updated.”

“You had family things to take care of,” Baekhyun said, his eyes fluttered shut when Chanyeol slowly slid his jeans off, fingers caressing his skin.  “Chan…”

Chanyeol removed his shirt and took Baekhyun’s off too.  His eyes immediately went to Baekhyun’s stomach and his heart fluttered when he saw the smallest bump starting to form, he pressed a light kiss to his belly and traced his lips slowly up the soft skin and moved up Baekhyun’s body, “Let me apologize properly for this neglect I’ve caused you.”

Baekhyun shivered as Chanyeol’s body slid over his own and he tangled his fingers in Chanyeol’s thick hair and slowly kissed him, practically melting under his boyfriend’s touch.  He let himself become malleable and just shut his eyes and let out pleased sounds with every touch and kiss Chanyeol gave him.

They certainly were glad that Jongin and Kyungsoo had left the dorm and that Minseok’s room was further down the hall.

~~~

Baekhyun laid on his side, resting his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder, as his boyfriend slowly ran his fingers through his hair; he was thoroughly exhausted and wanted to nap; Chanyeol expressed his deepest apologies for an hour and a half.

All he could smell was Chanyeol on him and sex, his body was still overly warm, despite him not being covered with a blanket.  He traced a slow circle over Chanyeol’s ribs, “Yeollie?”

“Hmm?” Chanyeol hummed, he looked down at the top Baekhyun’s head. 

“Nothing, just making sure that you’re still awake,” Baekhyun sleepily murmured. 

Chanyeol ruffled his hair lightly, “We should get up soon and take a shower, I still want to take you out for dinner.”

Baekhyun wiggled to get more comfortable, “Can we sleep longer?” 

“Of course,” Chanyeol easily agreed, he sat up even though Baekhyun grumbled at the movement.  He brought the blankets up and covered Baekhyun before lying back down and felt his boyfriend curl next to him again.  He looked up at the ceiling again and a satisfied smile filtered across his face when he felt Baekhyun press his body against him and he felt the small baby bump; his eyes got misty when it was a reminder that it was his baby, he put a child in Baekhyun and they were going to be parents. 

He desperately wanted to tell Baekhyun that he already knew, but when he had his emergency talk with his sister about Baekhyun hiding his pregnancy, she also had hidden the news from her husband, she had been so scared to be a mother that she wanted to gather herself mentally the best she could before she told her husband the news.  She told Chanyeol that was probably what Baekhyun was doing as well, because of how withdrawn he became at the thought of starting a family.  Chanyeol had noticed that Baekhyun was fine with other children, but if someone asked him when he planned on getting married or how many kids he wanted, Baekhyun clammed up.

Chanyeol would wait patiently until Baekhyun was ready to tell him.  He heard Baekhyun’s slow, even breathing and knew that he was now asleep, he let his eyes slip shut too, the last thing he wondered was what color he and Baekhyun should paint the nursery.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday everyone!~ I'm updating a little earlier in the day.

Baekhyun was startled awake by Chanyeol’s phone alarm going off and he groaned loudly before tucking his face in the small space where Chanyeol’s arm was flat against the mattress. 

“C’mon, Baek,” Chanyeol’s voice was a low rumble and he ran a hand down Baekhyun’s back.  He watched his boyfriend wake slowly, the way his eyes blinked tiredly and were barely open as he slowly moved him to sit up, “Nice nap?”

Baekhyun nodded to him, eyes still basically shut.  He scrubbed a hand across of his face and ruffled at his hair before inching towards the edge of the bed, when he moved to stand he let out a soft groan; Chanyeol had taken his time during sex, Baekhyun never thought Chanyeol would have the patience to draw out their intimate moments like that and fuck him so good.

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol had been pulling on his basketball shorts when heard Baekhyun make what sounded like a distressed sound to him.

“Yea, you just really laid me out good,” Baekhyun laughed, and he watched Chanyeol’s cheeks turn a light shade of red.  He didn’t bother pulling on a shirt because he’d just have to undress again anyway when they showered, plus his collarbones were bruised and hickey covered and Chanyeol went to town on his chest, his nipples were sore and puffy; the last thing he wanted was fabric touching him.  He wondered if it had been payback of some kind, but he hadn’t remembered marking up Chanyeol’s chest like his boyfriend had done to him, he glanced over to Chanyeol, but his boyfriend was just gathering their towels and singing softly under his breath.

“Ready?” Chanyeol asked when Baekhyun was just looking at him.

Baekhyun nodded and followed his boyfriend down the hall, they were still the two to be in the dorm and would be for the whole weekend.  He brushed his teeth and washed his face, Chanyeol doing the same before they both were climbing into the shower.

Baekhyun washed his hair as Chanyeol washed his back, then they switched, Baekhyun made sure to rub at his boyfriend’s shoulders and felt the tense muscles unknot somewhat, “Chan, you should really let me give you massage tonight, your shoulders are so tense.”

“But it’s your special belated birthday night,” Chanyeol said, helping Baekhyun wash out the shampoo.

“Okay, well, on this special night, let me do something nice for you,” Baekhyun pouted, poking Chanyeol in the chest and relented when Chanyeol gave in.  He washed his body with some nice smelling soap that Minseok had gifted him and he felt Chanyeol press up against his back, “Hmm?”

“Just smell good,” Chanyeol replied, kissing Baekhyun gently.  He pulled Baekhyun close and felt him shiver against him, he stroked his thumbs against Baekhyun’s hips as they kissed, “C’mon, we should leave soon so we’re not late to our reservation.”

Baekhyun looked up at him through half-lidded eyes, “Sure we have to go?”

“C’mon, Baek, you’ll have fun tonight, I know you will,” Chanyeol coaxed him.  He shut the water off and grabbed their towels, he dried himself off and got out first, he offered his hand to Baekhyun, who gave him a slight surprised look, “What?”

“You’re being super gentleman like,” Baekhyun pointed out, but let Chanyeol guide him out of the tub regardless.  “I mean, more than usual…”

“I’m always like this,” Chanyeol tilted his head slightly when Baekhyun was giving him a funny stare.  Baekhyun finally looked away from just as a nervous prickle of sweat was starting to form on the back of Chanyeol’s neck; he mentally told himself to reel it back with the helping and hovering, or Baekhyun was going to get suspicious.

They went back to their bedroom and got dressed, Chanyeol picked out dark jeans with a dark-blue button up, he wore the silver bracelet Baekhyun bought him almost a year ago; he always wore it with everything, and he dried his hair, lightly styling it while Baekhyun did his skin routine.

Baekhyun dried his hair, he used the small straighter to put small curls through his hair before musing it to give it a more natural look, he glanced at Chanyeol in the mirror, who was dressed, and lying back on the bed, reading on his phone.  He picked out a black sweater with white dots on it and dark grey skinny jeans; he’d cherish being able to wear his favorite jeans until he was too round to button them anymore.  After he got dressed, he put on the long silver necklace on with the infinity symbol on it, a gift from Chanyeol that matched the bracelet that his boyfriend wore, he then grabbed his designer shoes and looked over to Chanyeol, “Ready?”

Chanyeol hopped off the bed and grabbed his shoes too and followed after him, they sat on the couch and pulled on their shoes.  Chanyeol stood up and resisted the urge to offer Baekhyun his assistance again, but he did hold the door for him, “I’m driving us to the restaurant and then I figured after we eat, we could walk by the park that’s near the restaurant, the community put the pre-summer fairy lights up and it looked pretty neat.”

Baekhyun thought he was going to swoon, “Did you have the whole night planned?”

“I want to make this a special night for you, Baekhyun, you deserve that,” Chanyeol said as he held Baekhyun’s hand.  “I felt awful because we had been slammed with schedules on your birthday,” Chanyeol frowned.

Baekhyun could already feel his eyes wanting to water and he fought back the knot in his throat, “Chanyeol, we could literally just stay inside and watch movies all night for my birthday and I would have been happy with that.”

“But even then, we couldn’t do that because we had been busy, but I always want your birthdays to be good memories for you,” Chanyeol stubbornly told him.  They were on the elevator now and he looked at Baekhyun, “I love you, Baekhyun, your birthday means a lot to me because you’re important to me.”

Baekhyun just kissed him, standing on his tiptoes as Chanyeol crowded him in the corner, “Thank you,” he whispered, proud that his voice didn’t crack.  It didn’t seem to matter, as Chanyeol just gave him a knowing smile before kissing him much more softly.

They parted just as the doors slid open and Chanyeol took Baekhyun’s hand into his own again and led him to the underground garage where building staff and idols parked their cars.  Chanyeol opened the passenger door to his Hyundai Genesis Sedan for Baekhyun and waited until he was buckled in before shutting the door and went over to the driver’s side and got in.

Baekhyun immediately fiddled with the Bluetooth and queued up some songs that he kept the volume low to so he could still hear Chanyeol, he held Chanyeol’s hand in his lap as they pulled out onto the main street, he people watched when they were at stoplights and looked at other buildings, he looked at one store in particular when they were at another stoplight and looked at all the baby furniture that was on display and he glanced over to Chanyeol, who was watching the light.  He wanted to say something, but he also didn’t want to get into a car accident if Chanyeol freaked out, so he lightly squeezed his boyfriend’s hand.

“You okay?” Chanyeol asked, glancing over to him briefly before looking back at the road.

Baekhyun nodded, “Yea, just thinking.”

“About?” Chanyeol prompted him.

“How lucky I am to have you and that tonight is going to be the best night of my life,” Baekhyun cooed and listened to Chanyeol laugh at his sappiness.

“I really hope it is,” Chanyeol’s voice was yearning and he brought Baekhyun’s hand to his mouth and kissed his knuckles lightly before placing their hands back in Baekhyun’s lap.

The arrived at the restaurant and Baekhyun took in the dark building that had a second floor with a large patio where people could eat with pretty string lights lining the handrailing and crisscrossing through the poles that were mounted on the railings.

Chanyeol got them a parking spot and Baekhyun got out of the car before he could get the door for him, he smiled down at him when Baekhyun laced their fingers together and they walked towards the restaurant, he held the door for him and a couple that had been behind them.  He got a little nervous when the brown-haired women looked between them, recognition on her face, but she just smiled to him, took her partner’s hand, and followed after her girlfriend or wife Chanyeol didn’t see if she wore a wedding ring or not.

Baekhyun waited on Chanyeol before following him to the front table, the waitress checked for Chanyeol’s reservation and then passed a couple menus off to the server, who they followed up to the second floor to the open area and they were sat in a corner, overlooking the lake.

Chanyeol saw the awe on Baekhyun’s face and breathed softly in relief as Baekhyun’s mystified gaze overlooked the view, as he looked at Baekhyun, he thought he looked stunning in the setting sun; he always thought his boyfriend looked good anywhere and anytime, even when he was in oversized pajamas, eyes puffy from sleep, and hair chaotic, but tonight, Chanyeol just couldn’t help but stare at him, he felt like one of their fans staring from the crowd and onto the stage.

“Something on my face?” Baekhyun asked, patting at his face lightly.

“No,” Chanyeol shook his head, still smiling fondly.  “Just staring at my stunning boyfriend.”

“Oh, shush,” Baekhyun huffed at him.

Soon after, their waiter came and took their drink orders, Chanyeol hadn’t been surprised to see that his boyfriend had ordered a water, he had noticed that Baekhyun had cut back sugary drinks completely and switched them out for green tea or chamomile tea or water.  It made him very happy to know that Baekhyun was being very careful of what he ate and drank, and this restaurant was also why he made reservations, because it had a larger selection of food other than just meat or fish.

After reviewing the menu, Baekhyun looked over it at Chanyeol, “Would it be weird to order soup and salad?”

“No, why?” Chanyeol blinked.

“Just wondering,” Baekhyun shrugged.  He decided that he would get the ginger sauce salad and miso soup; he was worried that his change of order would throw Chanyeol off, as he usually ordered some type of dish that had steak or fish, or even both, but Chanyeol didn’t seem any different, he was just reading his own menu.  As he sipped at his water, he pondered when he should tell Chanyeol, he thought maybe tonight would be good; the scenery was nice, they were having a romantic dinner in the sunset that overlooked a large, beautiful lake, he could faintly see fireflies in the trees that lined the lake, and he hoped that this news would make it even better.

Their waiter came back again and took their order before vanishing away, Chanyeol put in an appetizer order of grilled clam strips when Baekhyun said that he’d like some.  Chanyeol reached and took Baekhyun’s hand into his own, he loved holding Baekhyun’s hands, they were so soft and delicate looking in his own, “What’s the matter?  You’re fidgeting.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ve been just excited to be here,” Baekhyun waved off Chanyeol’s concern, but he could tell that Chanyeol didn’t believe him.

“Are you sure that’s all?” Chanyeol curiously prompted him.

Baekhyun was saved from Chanyeol’s inquisitive stare when their waiter returned with their appetizer and he hastily thanked them before shoving a couple pieces into his mouth, which he immediately regretted as they were scalding hot.  

Chanyeol watched on with wide eyes as Baekhyun then chugged his water after making an uncomfortable sound, “ _Jagiya,_ are you all right?”

Baekhyun nodded after a minute, eyes still watering, his throat was still on fire and he felt like an idiot for doing that.  He shyly looked at Chanyeol when his boyfriend was still giving him a concern look, “I’m fine, Yeollie,” Baekhyun promised.

“If you say so,” Chanyeol relented, not wanting Baekhyun to feel as if he was being backed into a corner. 

They made simple conversation until their food arrived, but Baekhyun still wanted Chanyeol to talk about his newest song he was working on; he loved all the instrumental songs his partner made and loved the ones with lyrics even more. 

He nibbled at his salad while he waited for his soup to cool down, the last thing he wanted was to burn himself again, and eyed Chanyeol’s seared steak bites enviously.

Chanyeol just huffed out a small laugh before scooting his chair over until he was basically shoulder to shoulder with Baekhyun and fed him, “I’ll always share with you.”

“Yea, but I doubt you’d want to eat any salad,” Baekhyun pouted and ate a couple more bites of Chanyeol’s food before he refused anymore.  Again, he could feel Chanyeol’s stare on him, but he kept his eyes to his soup as he sipped some of the broth.

They finished their dinner and Chanyeol ordered dessert for them, a strawberry Marzipan mini-cake, Baekhyun was rather happy with that choice, judging by the way his face lit up at the two small round cakes that had a pink topping with a plum swirl jelly icing on top of that.  He fed the first bite to Baekhyun and watched the satisfaction slide onto his face, “Good?”

“Yes,” Baekhyun practically groaned.  “Believe me, I will gladly eat this off you any given time of the week.”

Chanyeol almost choked on his bite of the sweet cake at the statement and saw that Baekhyun just kept eating the cake without a hint of embarrassment.  He didn’t eat too much of it, finishing half before he felt like his teeth were going to be coated in sugary sweet icing for the rest of his life.

Baekhyun finished the rest of the cake when Chanyeol nudged the plate closer to him.  He sat back with a satisfied sigh and saw the waiter approach with the check, he went to snatch it from Chanyeol, but saw that Chanyeol’s card was already in it, their waiting was returning it to their table, “You distracted me with cake, you _fiend_ ,” Baekhyun accused when he watched Chanyeol tip and sign the receipt.

Chanyeol just kissed his cheek, “It’s your belated birthday night, you don’t pay for anything.”

Baekhyun only sulked a little bit as they left, his mood lifting when Chanyeol guided him down the sidewalk and they were heading towards the park.  He saw the archway was decorated with spring and summer decorations and a couple lanterns hung from hooks from the archway.

They walked under it and Baekhyun looked at all the pretty lights strung up in the trees, the lights changed colors every few minutes in a wave motion and he was about to get emotional about fairy lights.  He held Chanyeol’s hand as they walked down the pathway, the sun was mostly gone at this point so the colors of the lights lit up the surrounding darkness of the trees, making him feel like he was in a fairy land; he couldn’t wait to come back here with Chanyeol for the Christmas light show they did at this park too.

Chanyeol was glad that the park wasn’t too crowded, they passed other couples and families along the way, but none of them stopped or stared, so Chanyeol relaxed as he walked, falling into step with Baekhyun, he fought back the nerves that were threatening overtake him occasionally as he guided them to a bridge that went straight or if they turned to the right, it would take them out onto a dock on the lake that they had viewed during their dinner.  He gently pulled Baekhyun to the right and breathed in relief when they passed a couple that was leaving, leaving them alone on the dock, there were waterlilies on the surface of the lake close by the dock and more fairy lights were wrapped around the poles of the dock.

Baekhyun walked to the front of the dock, leaning slightly over the railing and gazed down at the water, he couldn’t see much due to the sun that was now low on the horizon, it painted the water orange, the water rippling as the dock moved slowly up and down from them walking on it.

“Was the walk okay?” Chanyeol asked as he stood next to Baekhyun.   He felt Baekhyun curl into his side and he wrapped an arm around his shoulders and kissed the top of his head.

“I really liked it,” Baekhyun smiled up at his boyfriend and kissed him when Chanyeol bent to meet him.  They both gazed across the lake, the sun getting lower and he shivered when a breeze picked up, he felt Chanyeol squeeze him closer.

“C’mon, let’s walk back, I don’t want you to catch a cold,” Chanyeol fretted.

Baekhyun agreed easily, the last thing he wanted was to get sick while he was expecting.  He turned away from the railing and heard Chanyeol gasp before a dull thudding met his eyes, Baekhyun whipped around in shock and found Chanyeol grimacing as he was on the ground, crouched on one knee, “What happened, are you okay?” he frantically asked and went to kneel down next to him when the pain on Chanyeol’s face faded and soon he was holding a small black velvet box, holding it in front of him, Baekhyun froze on the spot, eyes moving from the silver ring in the box up to Chanyeol’s face, “…Wha?” he trailed off, at a loss for words.

Chanyeol saw the bewilderment filtering across Baekhyun’s face, “Byun, Baekhyun—”

“Catch me,” Baekhyun interrupted, voice strained; his legs were giving out and he saw Chanyeol’s eyes widen before acting quickly and caught Baekhyun before he hit the ground.  He sat in Chanyeol’s lap on the chilly deck boards and then proceeded to cry into his boyfriend’s shoulder, “You can’t drop that on me all of sudden!”

Chanyeol jumped at the slight shrill cry and he carefully wrapped his arms around Baekhyun, holding him close, ring box still in his hand, “Baekhyun, that’s what a proposal is, silly, it’s supposed to be a surprise,” he murmured as he wiped away the tear tracks that ran down his boyfriend’s cheeks.

“Oh, my god,” Baekhyun whispered, hiding his face into his hands; his world felt like it had shifted more on its axis and he was wondering when he was going to fall off.

A sudden wave of uncertainty rolled over Chanyeol, “Unless…you’re not wanting to get married?”

“Of course I want to get married to you!” Baekhyun snapped suddenly, tears slowly coming to a stop.  “You’re the only person for me, Chanyeol…I knew this when I realized that spending every waking moment with you wasn’t a bad thing…”

The shy confession made Chanyeol’s eyes water and he kissed Baekhyun, lips slightly salty from warm tears, it didn’t bother him though.  He hugged Baekhyun carefully to him, “I love you so much, it’s why I’m not afraid of this next step in our lives, because I know you’ll be right there with me, I won’t be afraid of anything anymore if you’re right here.”

Baekhyun swallowed back the new round of tears he felt wanting to emerge and he hugged Chanyeol tight, “You’re too good for me,” he whispered.

“No, we’re equals to each other,” Chanyeol shook his head, kissing Baekhyun’s forehead.  He easily lifted Baekhyun into his arms and stood, taking them to the bench that lined the left and right side of the dock; he still worked out so he could carry Baekhyun anywhere, and he’d continue to do so for him and their future family.

Baekhyun sniffled, tucking his face into Chanyeol’s neck, “I’ve been less than that to you for almost two months, Yeollie,” his voice was still quiet.  He felt Chanyeol rub his back soothingly and it made him want to cry more and he felt shame building up.

“You haven’t been, Baek,” Chanyeol argued softly, “you’ve been going through your own thing, it’s okay.”

“But I’ve been hiding something from you,” Baekhyun whispered, curling more into Chanyeol.

Chanyeol smiled softly and made Baekhyun look at him, he wiped away the remaining tears from Baekhyun’s cheeks before softly kissing him.  He sat the ring box next to them before placing his hand gently over Baekhyun’s belly and saw Baekhyun’s shock filter onto his face, “It’s okay, I found out a few days ago…it’s why I was out for those days,” he informed Baekhyun.

“H-how?” Baekhyun shakily asked, he felt Chanyeol’s thumb run comfortingly over his belly and the action did help calm him somewhat.

“You’ve had the habit of making nests of your clothes everywhere,” Chanyeol reminded him, playfully poking his cheek.  “I was putting your clothes in the laundry basket when I grabbed your wallet out of your jeans so it wouldn’t get washed and when I tossed it onto the desk in our room, the pictures slid out and I saw them.”

Baekhyun felt an embarrassed blush covering his cheeks for being so careless where he kept the ultrasounds, “Are you angry?” he asked quietly.

Chanyeol gave him a bewildered look, “Angry?  Baekhyun, you’re having my kid or kids!  Why would I be upset about that?”

“First of all, there is only one, and second, I kept this from you for two months?!” Baekhyun reminded, he wiggled off Chanyeol’s lap.

Chanyeol eased him, but let him stand up, “That’s why I talked to my sister, she hid her pregnancy for almost three months, she never got very big until much later, she just needed time for herself to adjust to it, I figured you did too.”

“I didn’t know how to tell you,” Baekhyun frowned.  “I was scared because this,” he gestured to his belly, “is _really_ happening and we’re still in a band and we don’t have a house yet!”

“Easy, Baekhyun, don’t rile yourself up,” Chanyeol murmured, taking his hand into his own.  He stood up and kissed Baekhyun, “We’ll be okay, we’ll figure this out together.”

That mere sentence made Baekhyun breathe in relief, the fear and guilt draining from him and he kissed Chanyeol again, “Thank you,” Baekhyun whispered.

“I would do anything for you, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol swore.  He looked back to the ring box and picked it up, “Byun, Baekhyun, would you do me the honors of becoming my husband for the rest of my life?”

Baekhyun eyes grew watery again as he laughed, “Yes,” he breathed and hugged Chanyeol tight to him; this was his perfect night, the lake breeze was chilly, but Chanyeol kept him warm, he had the most perfect fiancé, and more importantly, the small bump between them was the evidence of their loving relationship.

They could take the world on together.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday~

Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s recent engagement didn’t stay much of a secret, they were found out three days later after Chanyeol’s proposal, it had stayed quiet over the weekend because the majority of the band had flown to Beijing the day after the couple’s dinner to go join Yixing for his charity event and Kyungsoo was out for rehearsals.  It didn’t help that once Chanyeol had slipped the ring onto Baekhyun’s finger, Baekhyun refused to take it off and put Chanyeol’s on for him; they agreed that they would just go to a court house and file for their marriage certificate and then when their contract with EXO was over, they would plan their official wedding.

JunMyeon was the one who spotted the silver ring first when he had handed a book over to Baekhyun, and he immediately snatched the lead vocalist’s left hand, “What’s this?” he asked, voice already cracking.

Baekhyun gave their leader a comforting pat; JunMyeon was emotional about relationships, the true romantic of the group, which Baekhyun only teased him about a handful of times.  He just calmly responded to him, “Chanyeol and I got engaged a few days ago, when we went out for dinner.”

“Thank god, because I’ve already had your guy’s wedding gifts bought and saved in my personal storage unit at home,” JunMyeon wailed, he pulled Baekhyun into a tight hug, crying happily into his shoulder.  “It only took you guys ten years!”

Baekhyun just sighed and let JunMyeon sway him side to side as he was used as an emotional sponge.  He saw Chanyeol peek his head into the den from all the sounds and Baekhyun just lifted his left hand, fluttering his fingers in answer, Chanyeol merely smiled and ducked out.  “Hyung, don’t you want to go congratulate Chanyeol too?” he asked and heard hurried footsteps fading away from his and JunMyeon’s location.

JunMyeon was wiping at his face, “You’re right, he probably needs to talk about wedding plans,” he blubbered and left the den to go find Chanyeol and smother him into a hug as well.

Baekhyun breathed in relief and winced as it felt like his spine was relocating itself.  When he left the den, he saw Minseok look up from his phone as he was curled up on the couch and he nodded to Baekhyun.

“Congratulations, I wouldn’t say it was about time, because you both were too emotionally immature for marriage, but I guess you two are sort of ready now,” Minseok said, voice slightly bland.

“Gee, thank you, Hyung,” Baekhyun sarcastically replied.  He just hoped the rest of the night would pass easily, he already knew that JunMyeon would plan something tonight and he wondered if he could just coast through it and go to bed early with Chanyeol.

How the fates of the world seemed to be against him that day. 

Dinner that night had been interesting too, JunMyeon practically catered in a whole restaurant for the newly engaged couple, Baekhyun just kept fending off JunMyeon’s happy tears, because if their leader started to ugly cry again, Baekhyun was going to start crying for the sake of his sanity and not because Baby Baek was influencing his hormonal state.

Jongdae was pouring champagne for everyone in solo cups, because he did not plan on doing dishes just because Chanyeol and Baekhyun became official for legal terms.  He could already see Minseok downing his drink before Jongdae had even finished passing out the other cups and hurried to pass out the drinks before the older man grabbed the champagne bottle.

Jongin was Facetiming Yixing, who was excitedly cheering for his friends, “Do you think you’ll be able to come and visit?”

“I wanted to surprise you guys that I am flying out tomorrow!” Yixing said, but he didn’t sound upset for the reveal being blown, “But you guys surprised me with even happier news!”

The group cheered at that; Yixing was going to be reunited with them and was going to stay with them until the end of their contract, as they would be promoting and finishing up.

Conversation carried on until Chanyeol paused in mid-sentence with his talk with Yixing to snatch the cup that Jongdae was handing Baekhyun, “He can’t drink,” he stated sternly and saw Jongdae’s confusion, glancing at Baekhyun, who was coming up with an excuse.

Kyungsoo had been in the process of stopping Jongdae too, he saw Chanyeol’s surprised look, “I know nothing,” he said quickly and in a threatening tone when Chanyeol looked from him to Baekhyun and saw the gears turning.

“You knew Baekhyun was pregnant?!” Chanyeol exclaimed in disbelief and looked over to Baekhyun for confirmation.

Jongdae spilled his drink and whipped his head to where the three were, “What?!” he shrilled, breaking the shocked silence, causing the others to wince before going into their own breakdowns.

Jongin had dropped his phone in shock and was staring at Baekhyun with a gob-smacked expression because his silent theory had been correct and Yixing was excitedly screaming on the other end of Facetime before the app crashed.

Minseok smiled brightly and lifted the half-empty champagne bottle to them before he proceeded to start drinking and walked over to where JunMyeon was now sitting on the floor, head in his hands, crying that he shouldn’t have ordered alcohol and that he put Baekhyun’s baby in danger; the eldest just patted JunMyeon on the head, while ignoring his frantic rambling.

Chanyeol saw that Sehun was the only one not to have reacted and gave him an accusing stare, “Did you know too?”

Sehun raised an eyebrow, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, good job on the baby making, daddy,” and chugged his drink and left the kitchen quickly before Chanyeol could come after him and put him in a headlock.

Baekhyun just moved to go sit down at the kitchen table, his head on the table, as Kyungsoo apologetically murmured to him.  He turned his head on the table to glare at his fiancé, but didn’t open his mouth, he knew that he didn’t need to say a thing because Chanyeol was already giving him an apologetic look, puppy eyes in play to gain leverage over Baekhyun’s annoyance.

JunMyeon was already on the phone to the local bakery, putting in an order for a baby cake.

“Hyung, we don’t even know what gender the baby is, plus, blue and pink cakes are so stereotypical,” Baekhyun growled when JunMyeon was asking Chanyeol what the baby was going to be.

“Rainbow cake it is,” JunMyeon nodded firmly and left to the living room to finish his call.

Jongdae was still moping up his mess when he gave the two parents-to-be a misty-eyed stare, “Congrats, really, you two are going to be amazing.”

Jongin was agreeing, but grieving for his phone, as he shattered the screen and Kyungsoo was now talking calmingly over his phone with Yixing, who could still be heard by everyone who was still in the kitchen.

Baekhyun now wanted to go to bed; it was sort of late and he was too tired to deal with anyone else now and just done in general.  He sat back up, as his back was starting to hurt from slouching onto the kitchen table, “Minseok-Hyung, drink for me, because I certainly would be right now if I could due to the double-events that just happened,” he stated; he hated the taste of soju, but he knew that not-pregnant him wouldn’t be drinking for the pleasure, but for the stress he’d want to forget about.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Minseok said and went to grab the soju from the fridge, told them all have a wonderful night, and sauntered off to his and Jongdae’s bedroom, who did the same before following after him.

“That’s a brand-new bottle,” Chanyeol blurted when the couple had left the kitchen.

Baekhyun never had the taste for alcohol, it always burned and left an awful taste in his mouth, so he didn’t really care what those two did, “They’re celebrating us and to the future us.”

“They’re going to celebrate an early liver failure before 50,” Jongin stated.

“I’ll check on them before we go to bed,” Kyungsoo promised after he had managed to end his conversation with Yixing.  He gave Chanyeol and Baekhyun both a warm smile, “Congratulations, we’ll always be here if you ever need help with anything.”

Chanyeol’s eyes got water, “Kyungsoo,” his voice wobbled and went for a hug.

Kyungsoo froze him with a glare, “I only give affection when I feel like it.”

Jongin just smiled coyly at Chanyeol as he wrapped his arms around Kyungsoo, “I know you do,” he cheekily said, kissing Kyungsoo on the cheek before letting him go.  “But yes, congratulations, I’m still in shock, so I will certainly cry later tonight when it finally sinks in that I’m going to be an uncle.”

Baekhyun gave him a befuddled look, “I thought you knew?  You at least acted like you knew…”

“It was an assumption, but I wanted to hear it from you specifically, and it all makes more sense why Kyungsoo was doting on you so much,” Jongin mused.

“I feel like I was the last to know,” Chanyeol pouted at Baekhyun.  “Obviously Kyungsoo and Sehun knew before I did.”

“I freaked out to Sehun and Kyungsoo is just terrifyingly observant,” Baekhyun told his fiancé.  “Believe me, I wanted to tell you, I just didn’t know how.”

Chanyeol caringly ran his hand down Baekhyun’s back and kissed the top of his head, “It’s okay, you don’t have to justify yourself,” he reassured Baekhyun, seeing how bothered he looked.

“I’m surprised you didn’t pick up on it earlier, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo chided the taller idol, he folded his arms and gave him an accusing stare.  “The morning sickness, sensitivity to food, mood swings, exhaustion, and the monthly doctor visits,” he listed off.

“Kyungsoo, don’t be cruel to him,” Baekhyun frowned.  “I’m sure the idea of me expecting was the last thing on his mind.”

Jongin lightly patted Kyungsoo’s shoulders, “C’mon, Soo, don’t be mean,” he cooed.  “You know Chanyeol was worried and upset for Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun lightly poked the other lead singer, “Do you want Chanyeol next to ask you for my hand in marriage?” he teased.

“Yah, don’t be stupid,” Kyungsoo snapped, puffing up like a ruffled bird.

The three laughed at Kyungsoo’s defensive stance and Jongin just kissed his boyfriend’s cheeks fondly, “C’mon, it’s getting late, let the newly engaged and soon to be newly parents get to bed too.”

“Fine, and you and I are going with our manager to pick Yixing up from the airport in the morning,” Kyungsoo complied.  He briefly hugged Baekhyun and Chanyeol before letting them go, he fixed them both with a gentler smile, “Good night, let us know if you need help with anything, okay?”

The couple reassured that they would and thanked him before wishing him and Jongin good night and they went to their bedroom.

Baekhyun changed into his pajamas first before going to the bathroom to do his nightly routine, Chanyeol following after him.  He was drying his face as Chanyeol was removing his contacts and he looked at his fiancé in the mirror, he laughed at the silly face Chanyeol made in the reflection and he felt happy, no guilt, no sadness, nor worries stockpiling in him for once.

“Are you able to have that pregnancy glow so early?” Chanyeol wondered out loud when he looked over Baekhyun, taking in the content expression on his face.

“Oh, hush, I don’t think that’s even a real thing,” Baekhyun said.  “When I had looked at my family pictures, my mother looked miserable when she was first pregnant with my older brother and then me.”

“Funny, my mother looked nothing but joyful when she was having my sister and me,” Chanyeol mused.  “Maybe you and your brother were just active and wouldn’t let your mom sleep.”

“Well, that hasn’t changed much,” Baekhyun chuckled sheepishly.  He still called his mother at least twice a week just to check up on her and his father and make sure that their lives were okay and that they were in good health, as he tended to get rather paranoid some days.  He brushed his teeth as Chanyeol did the same and soon they were heading back to their bedroom, he crawled into the bed, taking the wall side per usual and felt Chanyeol spoon himself behind him.

“Speaking of mothers, when do you want to tell our parents?” Chanyeol asked him softly, rubbing his thumb slowly over Baekhyun’s exposed skin from where he pushed his hand up his shirt.

Baekhyun wondered when that question was going to be asked and he had an answer for that, “I figure when we finally settle on a house and final get moved in and whatnot, we could invite our families for a housewarming dinner and share the news with them.”

“Us being engaged or us having a child?” Chanyeol asked.  He didn’t think Baekhyun’s parents were old-fashion with traditional things, he had only met them a few times, but he figured if they had been, Baekhyun would have already had an arranged marriage and probably married by now.

Baekhyun hummed at that, “Well, by the time we have our own place, I’ll be at least five months along, I don’t know how big I will get, but maybe we should tell them both things, just so they don’t think that we’re hiding anything.”

“My sister already knows that we’re engaged and that you’re expecting, she also helped me with our rings,” Chanyeol admitted to him.  “I don’t think she would have told our mom without me saying it was fine, I know she hasn’t said anything because if she had, I know my mom would be over here planning our wedding for us and buying curtains for the baby’s room.”

Baekhyun laughed softly at Chanyeol’s somewhat exasperated tone, “Chanyeol, be nice to your mother, you have the majority of her traits.”

“I know this, but you love me anyway,” Chanyeol cheekily replied. 

“I do,” Baekhyun agreed, rolling over to kiss him, he shivered pleasantly as Chanyeol’s warm hand caressed his back slowly and he moved to hike his left leg over Chanyeol’s hip.

Chanyeol softly necked him, “We can’t do much tonight, everyone is in the dorm tonight,” he whispered.

Baekhyun pouted unhappily at that, “Then stop being so good with your hands and mouth,” he groaned unhappily and the wicked grin that Chanyeol gave him sent a shiver up his spine.

“C’mon, Hyunnie, let’s test how good at being quiet you are,” Chanyeol rumbled into Baekhyun’s ear, as he slowly slid his hand up Baekhyun’s thigh.  The teasing grin on his face only widened when he heard Baekhyun answer him with a soft whine.

~~~

The following morning, there was knocking on the bedroom door that Chanyeol barely heard through his headphones, he was sat on the bed, laptop in front of him as he was editing his newest song.  He glanced over to the closed door over the top of his glasses and said that the door was unlocked, he looked to his left and saw that Baekhyun hadn’t even budged from the commotion.

The door opened and in stepped JunMyeon and Yixing, the leader was holding the promised rainbow cake and Yixing had a big wicker basket with a yellow bow tied on it.

Chanyeol smiled brightly to see them, he removed his headphones and stood up and pulled Yixing into a tight hug, “Hyung, it’s so wonderful to see you!”

Yixing had to put the basket down as he returned Chanyeol’s hug, “You too!  Congratulations on your engagement and the baby!” he peered over Chanyeol’s shoulder when he saw the lump of blankets moving and he saw Baekhyun’s face peeking out.  “There’s the Umma!”

Baekhyun just pulled the blanket back over his head and rolled away from the sound.

“Oh, no, no!” JunMyeon said as he placed the cake on the desk in the bedroom before coming over to where Baekhyun was hidden away.  “You better be dressed,” he said as he gripped the edges of the blanket.

“He is,” Chanyeol confirmed as he continued to speak with Yixing.  He let Yixing inside the bedroom and carried the basket over by the closet so no one would trip over it, he couldn’t see what was inside as a blanket that was gray and had small cartoon sheep printed on it was hiding everything.

Baekhyun curled up in a ball when JunMyeon ripped the blankets off him and he shivered, “You can’t treat pregnant people like this,” he grumbled into the pillow and shot Chanyeol a betrayed look.

“You don’t have to unbury him just because I’m here,” Yixing said gently.  He sat on the edge of the bed and chuckled at Baekhyun, who looked a little miffed still at being out in the open and barely awake.

“Hi, Hyung,” Baekhyun greeted the Chinese man quietly.

“You look so tired, is your baby this taxing already?” Yixing asked, frowning and he saw Baekhyun blush and he looked over to Chanyeol, who just scratched at the back of his neck nervously.

JunMyeon just pretended that his friends were good pure people.

“Yes…” Baekhyun finally said.  He sat up and ruffled at his hair and patted at it until it was mostly flat and moved to bring his legs closer to him when Chanyeol was coming over with the basket that Yixing was asked the taller boy to bring over.

“I brought a gift, I hope you don’t mind,” Yixing blushed nervously, “it was a bit of a hasty buy the night before I left.”

“Hyung, you didn’t have to get us or the baby anything, Chanyeol and I haven’t bought anything yet,” Baekhyun informed him, but thanked him regardless.  He let Chanyeol carefully untie the golden ribbon and they both cooed when they saw the blanket.

JunMyeon was fighting back tears and taking a video.

Baekhyun folded the soft sheep printed blanket and placed it to the side and inside the basket he and Chanyeol grabbed the packaged baby bottles and Baekhyun grabbed a baby onesie and carefully unrolled it, it was a soft teal color and it had a bright yellow star on the front that said “ _I’m Their Biggest Star”_ and suddenly Baekhyun felt himself choke up.

This was their first baby basket, filled with tiny baby outfits, blankets, rattles, bottles, bibs, and a couple plush toys that Yixing had picked out for them and Baekhyun was furiously trying to fight back the onslaught of tears that were trying to start up, so he made an odd noise in his desperation to keep his cool and he looked up when he felt Chanyeol’s hand on his back and he saw tears in Chanyeol’s eyes and that’s when Baekhyun finally started to cry.

Yixing instantly started to panic and was apologizing profoundly and JunMyeon was crying because the soon-to-be parents were crying, Jongdae had poked his head in when he heard all the commotion before backing out of that emotional fest just as he quickly appeared.

“Everything is fine, Hyung,” Baekhyun promised, wiping at his face with his shirt collar.  He gave Yixing a wobbly smile, who still looked doubtful, “I’m just…shocked because when I see these things or when I go to the doctors for a checkup and when I’m reminded that I’m having a baby or when I _see_ my baby, it’s just a reminder that this is actually happening, I’m having a kid, Chanyeol and I are going to be parents,” he explained.

Chanyeol hugged Yixing, “Thank you, Hyung, seriously, we really appreciate the gift basket.”

Baekhyun had just noticed that JunMyeon was still filming them, “Yah!  This is a private moment!” he growled, lunging across the bed.

JunMyeon fell off the bed onto the ground, still holding the phone, but now as a shield when Baekhyun was crouched on the edge, “It’s for your baby!”

Baekhyun just narrowed his eyes and chased JunMyeon around the room, while Chanyeol tried to get Baekhyun to calm down before he hurt himself, luckily and not so luckily, Baekhyun stopped running and jumping after their leader less than a minute later, freezing in place, grimacing and putting a hand to his side.

“Oh, my god, Baekhyun, what is it?  What’s happening?” Chanyeol gasped, hands gripping into his hair in fright, too afraid to touch his fiancé, who was holding the bottom on his bump lightly.

“I’m okay, the baby is okay, Dr. Kim said that sudden movements like that can cause discomfort,” Baekhyun said through gritted teeth, he limped over to the bed to sit down and Yixing was frantically putting the baby gifts back into the basket and out of Baekhyun’s way.

After they had calmed down, JunMyeon had stopped filming and grabbed the cake, telling them that he was going to put it in the kitchen before leaving the bedroom after doublechecking on Baekhyun.

“Are you not going to be able to perform with us?” Yixing asked when Baekhyun was breathing normally again.

“My doctor and my nurse were saying that it would be best for me not to be on stage, I am going to talk to our manager, I’ll be on the sidelines, I can do the less straining dances too,” Baekhyun told Yixing. 

Chanyeol still looked upset, “I would prefer that you didn’t perform at all, I don’t want you to overwhelm yourself.”

“I’m just barely two months, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun reminded him.

“Yes, but we’ll be touring for three weeks, constantly on a strict schedule, it won’t be good for you or our baby,” Chanyeol reminded him, he could see Baekhyun gearing up to argue with him.

Yixing hummed in agreement with that, cutting in before Baekhyun could set his mouth off, “You shouldn’t overexert yourself, Baekhyun.”

“I don’t know what to do then, I can’t just fuck off, because this is our last comeback as a group,” Baekhyun scowled, aggravated tears sprung into his eyes and he was so tired of crying already; he hadn’t surpassed JunMyeon or Jongin in the emotional department, but he was already crying more than he wanted to be.

“Maybe we can rearrange something to where you can be on stage, sing live and do smaller things,” Yixing said.  He stood up suddenly, “Yes,” he nodded to himself, “I will start planning a new set of chorography for you, and I’ll get yours and Chanyeol’s final opinions on it,” he concluded.  He gave them both hugs and kisses on their cheeks before hurrying away, determination on his face and he had rounded the corner just as the couple had poked their heads out the door to tell him it wasn’t necessary.

“He’s going to strain himself,” Baekhyun frowned unhappily as he moved to sit back down on the bed.

Chanyeol soothingly rubbed at his back, “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him so he doesn’t get himself all worked up.”

Baekhyun thanked him before sighing dejectedly, “Chan, I don’t know what to do about this…I don’t want to just sit out, I’ll be upset for our fans and to be more selfish, I want to see them before we’re done.”

“You will,” Chanyeol swore, “we’re still doing a meet and greet, you’ll get to talk to them after our performances, and we’ll be meeting fans as we travel.”

Baekhyun could only hope so, he sighed unhappily again, but curled up next to Chanyeol, who went back to his projected, and listened to the soft beat that came through the laptops speakers and let the calming hum of his fiancé’s voice and his newest song lull him back to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday!~ I hope you all have a safe Labor Day weekend.
> 
> Omg, I need to write faster, I'm all caught up to the current chapter!! D:

Baekhyun thought he was going to have a nervous-breakdown by the time the next week was rolling by.  He had been practicing his lines for every single song until his voice was hoarse and would drink green tea to help soothe it before moving onto the group’s dancing routine.

He hated that the most because he could feel everyone watching him as they all danced in sync, he would be watching his steps in the mirror that was across from them and he would see that everyone was watching him in the reflection, and every time he glanced at Chanyeol in the reflection, his fiancé’s face was contorted into an expression of pure concern.

During one slightly more exerting move, Baekhyun heard Jongdae suck in a sharp breath between his teeth and Baekhyun just stepped back, he had his hands into fists and he was absolutely livid, “Enough,” Baekhyun snapped, voice sharp over the music they were doing their dance routine to.

“Are you tired, do you need a break?” Chanyeol asked, loping over to where the shorter was standing ridged in place, mistaking Baekhyun’s statement for a desire for a break.  He went to take Baekhyun’s hand and guide him to the stacked mats that he had put together for his fiancé when he had two delicate hands stopping him from coming any closer, “Baek?” he tilted his head in confusion and he saw the annoyance on Baekhyun’s face, his face extra flush from anger and not just from practice.

The rest of EXO took a small step back, even Kyungsoo, who was now grabbing Jongin by the sleeve, dragging his boyfriend behind him as he called over his shoulder that he was going to go grab them all some snacks and more water, as they had been practicing over an hour.

“Stop coddling me,” Baekhyun demanded, he leaned slightly to leer past Chanyeol’s side, “and that goes to all of you,” he snapped before turning on his heel and marching out the other doors.

Jongdae was sitting on the shiny floor with Minseok and Yixing and he whistled lowly, “Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle him when he’s much further along?” he called out to Chanyeol.

“It’s not his fault, he’s been tossing and turning in bed for the last few days, he just couldn’t get comfortable to sleep, so he’s grumpy,” Chanyeol defended him.  “Baby Baek isn’t the issue.”

“Baby Baek is growing and sapping Baekhyun’s energy, energy that Baekhyun can’t be wasting on dancing, he should be resting and eating plenty for himself and the baby!” JunMyeon retorted a little sharply.

Chanyeol groaned, “Hyung, you’re preaching to the wrong company, I have told him multiple times that he shouldn’t be pushing himself, but he damn near sent me to the couch.  He tried to exile himself to the couch after one argument like that, but I just carried him back to bed, so he’s tired, annoyed with my nagging, and his pride is hurt.”

Yixing just looked sad, “I’m sorry that I couldn’t figure out an easier chorography for him that could go with ours, I hadn’t realized how complex it was going to be.”

“Don’t be sorry, you tried and I’m grateful for that,” Chanyeol consoled him.  He wandered over to where Baekhyun’s water bottle was and refilled it from the fountain, “I’ll go find him, he’s probably just pouting on the roof.”

“Good luck, don’t die,” Minseok waved to him.

Chanyeol merely rolled his eyes and sauntered off to go find said pouty fiancé; he couldn’t really get annoyed with Baekhyun because he was so small and his anger made his cheeks turn into a cute flush and his nose would sometimes crinkle adorably, he really did remind Chanyeol of an upset puppy that couldn’t find its toy.  He walked down the hall, passing some new trainees and nodded to them as a few of them got red in the face from awe and bowed to him in greeting, he would have properly spoke to them, but he was on a mission.

He took the stairs two at a time all the way to the roof and opened the door calmly and he spotted his scowling fiancé sitting on top of a table by the fence, leering down at the city below.  Chanyeol placed the water bottle next to Baekhyun before settling next to him as well, “Baekhyun, I’m sorry if I’m hovering too much, I’m sorry that the rest of the group has been looming too.”

“I don’t like being treated differently just because I’m having your kid,” Baekhyun grumped the moment Chanyeol stopped talking.

“Baby Baek is yours too,” Chanyeol reminded him.

“You put it in me,” Baekhyun retaliated.  “I don’t even understand how it happened, we were always so careful!”

Chanyeol felt a sudden wave of unease and nervously licked his lips, “Are you…regretting this?” he asked hesitantly.  He felt a heavy hit of sadness starting to overcome him when Baekhyun didn’t answer and turned his head away from Chanyeol, “Baekhyun,” he shakily began, throat tight.

“No,” Baekhyun interrupted him quietly, bowing his head slightly, “I don’t regret our baby.  I would never regret this, I’m just stressed and tired, as you can clearly tell.  I just don’t want all of you watching my every step, baby-proofing everything for me before I even have the baby, I understand that everyone cares and is excited and I know you care and are excited especially, but please ease off on the sheltering.  I won’t break the moment I actually have to do something, I’m still me, Chanyeol.”

“I know you are, and I’m sorry, I really am, I’ll hold myself back from wanting to cut your food for you and feed you consistently, I won’t ask you if you’re okay every few minutes…I’ll wait an hour or two before asking,” Chanyeol flushed at the sharp glare Baekhyun pinned on him, “okay, fine, I’ll only ask if you really look uncomfortable!  I’ll tell the others to back off too, because you and I are engaged, so I have the right to worry and hover, you’re marrying me, not the whole group.”

Baekhyun sighed and leaned back on his hands, “I keep telling myself I shouldn’t be annoyed with it, because it’s in your nature to fret and mother-hen, honestly, why am I the one expecting?  You have more maternal instincts that me!”

Chanyeol laughed and just moved so that he had Baekhyun sitting between his legs and let his fiancé rest his back against his chest, “Because you look more adorable pregnant.”

“Says you,” Baekhyun muttered.

“Baekhyun, you make everything cute, and I’m too manly, you’ve seen my arms and abs,” Chanyeol teased him and faked whine of pain when Baekhyun slapped his thigh.

“Fine, you’re manly, but you’re more in touch with your emotions than I am, I’m too stilted for emotional confrontation,” Baekhyun huffed unhappily, crossing his arms across his chest.

Chanyeol just hummed and placed one hand gently over the barely there bump on Baekhyun, “You’re a good person, Baek, and I know with our kid, you’ll give them all the love and affection they could ever want.”

Baekhyun nodded; he would.  He relaxed back against Chanyeol, closing his eyes as Chanyeol’s thumb rubbing soothingly across where their child was growing and they stayed like that for almost an hour until Sehun came for them, telling them at they had finished practice.

Chanyeol felt a little guilty for not coming back and he could tell that Baekhyun did too, “You’re okay, you have a legitimate reason not to practice.”

“But I can,” Baekhyun sighed, he grabbed Chanyeol’s hand to help him off the picnic table and held his hand as they walked inside with Sehun.

“You guys don’t need to worry about it, one missed practice isn’t going to mess you up, I know you’ve been practicing at night,” Sehun said when he had overheard them.

The couple would practice for about an hour before moving onto vocals for another hour, they were a little more tired in the mornings, but they didn’t mind.

“What are we doing for dinner?” Baekhyun asked when they were heading back to the dorm.

“Minseok ordered us all dinner from the chicken shack from around the block,” Sehun informed them.

“That sounds amazing…with spicy jelly, mmm,” Baekhyun hummed, mouth starting to water.

“Spicy jelly?” Chanyeol’s lips quirked at Baekhyun’s happy nod.  He figured it was the start of cravings, as his fiancé didn’t actively seek out spicy food, he would eat it if was given to him, but most of the time, he’d pass it off to Chanyeol; he could tell his child was already taking after him in the food department and that was making his heart swell with happiness.

When they had returned to the dorm, the couple parted from Sehun to take a quick shower to wash off the sweat that had dried to them, they lingered under the warm spray for an extra couple minutes until Baekhyun was trying to get out in the haste because he was going to eat the shower luffa if he didn’t get real food within the next minute.

Chanyeol was trying to get Baekhyun to slow down before he slipped, “Easy, Baek, we’re going to go eat,” he chuckled.  He passed Baekhyun one of his shirts and a pair of sweatpants before getting dressed as well.

Baekhyun was leading the way to the kitchen, he moved to one of the chairs, vibrating in his chair practically from waiting for everyone else to grab their share of the food.  He knew he shouldn’t stuff his face and he saw Kyungsoo sit a small bowl with fresh salad greens and tomatoes already sliced up and ready for him.

Kyungsoo wordlessly stepped away to go join Jongin in the living room, they were all going to watch a movie and enjoy their dinners.

Chanyeol huffed unhappily, “He’s taking my doting job as a future father away from me.”

“You’ve always done things for me, Yeollie,” Baekhyun said, poking him lightly in the arm because Chanyeol was carrying their plates to the living room and Baekhyun grabbed them both something to drink.  He settled onto a floor pillow next to Chanyeol and passed him a drink as Chanyeol set his plate in front of him and his salad.

“Thank you, Minseok-Hyung,” the group chorused together to their eldest group mate, before digging into the food happily.

Baekhyun didn’t pay too much attention to the action-packed movie that everyone else was drawn to, he would glance up from his phone occasionally when something loud caught them the barrier of him focusing on what he was reading before going back to his phone.  He would save screenshots of the baby articles he was reading and baby furniture ads that would sometimes be on the sides of the article page, he felt Chanyeol rest his head onto his shoulder and he heard him make a soft cooing sound.

“That bed is cute,” Chanyeol murmured, poking the ad and ignored his fiancé’s annoyed huff at him.  He read that the crib for the baby could have the sides taken off and turned into a toddler’s bed and saved it, “We should find more things like that.”

“But what if our kid wants to choose their bed?” Baekhyun asked.

“Maybe when they’re a little older they can pick their bed, they’ll just be a little kid; my mom gave me my sister’s hand-me-downs, I had a pink bed for almost five years of my life,” Chanyeol said and listened to Baekhyun giggle.

“But our baby doesn’t have any siblings yet, we shouldn’t be as traditional as our parents were,” Baekhyun reminded him quietly, not missing the glare Jongdae was shooting a glare at them to be quiet.  He also had his fair share of hand-me-downs from his older brother and he remembered hating a lot of them, but because they were gifts from his brother, he did cherish some of them.

Chanyeol practically preened that Baekhyun offhandedly admitted that he didn’t mind having another baby after their first one and he kissed his cheek and silently read over Baekhyun’s shoulder, taking mental notes of what Baekhyun’s attention was focused on with furniture and articles he was reading.

The couple stayed invested with their reading and looking at furniture, they hadn’t even realized that the movie was over, until Yixing was ruffling Chanyeol’s hair, telling them good night and trailing after JunMyeon, who still had a spare bed in his bedroom.

The rest of the group was doing the same after they had cleaned up, wishing each other a good night before they were each heading off to their own bedrooms to turn in for the night.

Chanyeol helped Baekhyun up and kissed him slowly, hands settling on Baekhyun’s hips and he pulled back to smile at him, “C’mon, let’s get to bed, we can do some more baby stuff browsing tomorrow,” he said, lacing his fingers with Baekhyun’s and started to gently guide him to their bedroom.

Baekhyun crawled into bed first, he felt Chanyeol slide up against his back, “G’night, Yeollie,” Baekhyun murmured, already feeling himself drifting off already, warm and content in his fiancé’s strong arms.

Chanyeol pressed his lips to Baekhyun’s shoulder and cuddled him closer, he sighed happily and felt Baekhyun relax into his arms.  He tucked his face into Baekhyun’s soft hair and let himself fall into an easy sleep.

~~~

Baekhyun craved to go back to that sleep that he felt like had been a month ago, it had just been about, three weeks had gone by and they were all slammed with traveling to different parts of Korea for interviews, mini concerts and their schedules were being configured for additional practices and other hosting shows.

On top of that, they all had thrown a birthday party for JunMyeon, while they were out promoting and motel hopping for mini concerts they were doing, but the majority of them had barely stayed up after the dinner Yixing and Kyungsoo had ordered in for their leader.

Baekhyun would need a break sometime soon to go to his monthly appointment, a couple of times he had to stand off to the side while they were performing, but luckily it was always around the parts of his solos, so he could just sing and rest for about twenty seconds or so, but he never missed the way Chanyeol’s gaze would shoot over to him, feeling his hands brush worriedly across his sides when they would cross dance paths.

He had to reschedule his doctor’s appointment at the beginning of June to later in the month, as his schedule did not have any open times, other during late at night, but his doctor’s office would have been closed for the day.  He had informed his manager of his current condition, he had watched the older man sway on his feet at the news and Baekhyun had worried that he had broken him.

Their manager had been upset of course, not because Baekhyun was expecting, he had been extremely excited for that news, tearfully excited, because he had watched Baekhyun grow up from a boy just reaching 20 years old to a fully functional adult, getting ready to become a parent, he had been upset because he didn’t want Baekhyun to strain himself and he tried to get the idol some resting time and time off for his doctor appointments.

Which is where Baekhyun was heading right now, he had Chanyeol with him, who was unconscious against his shoulder, they were being driven back to Seoul for Baekhyun’s appointment, which was going to be a two-hour trip and they tried to get as much rest as they could.

Baekhyun had tried, but he was a bit anxious to see the development and check to see that his baby was okay.  He glanced down at his tummy, he was wearing a baggy sweater to cover the slight roundness that was more prominent when he wore fitted shirts that never seemed to fail to bring happy tears to Chanyeol’s eyes or when he was walking around shirtless to find something to wear, he would suddenly have warm, strong hands cupping his baby bump.

He must have zoned out during the majority of the trip, because Baekhyun blinked and the sudden focus of that they were just around the corner to his doctor’s office had him shaking Chanyeol lightly.  He pressed soft kisses to Chanyeol’s cheeks, as his fiancé murmured sleepily, until he was sitting up on his own, groggily blinking in his surroundings.

Their excited manager cheerfully gave them both a fist bump and Baekhyun just smiled and thanked him, while Chanyeol happily trailed after Baekhyun after giving their manager a happy bump back and soon they were back in the lobby, Baekhyun checked in and he was sitting next to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol was holding Baekhyun’s hand, “How big is our baby supposed to be now?” he asked him.

Baekhyun happily patted Chanyeol’s hand, “I read that our baby is supposed to be the size of a plum.”

Chanyeol barely fought back an excited squeal, but it came out as a half-choked sound of joy and grinned to the point that it looked like his face was going to split and that had Baekhyun practically doubled over in his seat in laughter.

Baekhyun calmed down, trying to shush himself as there were a few other people were in the waiting room, side-eyeing them, and he had to muffle his remaining laughter behind his hands as Chanyeol patted his thigh.

They were looking at more baby clothes with each other and Baekhyun thought his heart was going to melt from all the cute outfits and he heard Chanyeol’s soft cooing too and he snuggled into Chanyeol’s embrace.

Baekhyun faintly heard his name being called and he perked up when he saw Nurse Rey standing at the door, smiling kindly and gesturing for him to come back and he took Chanyeol’s and led him back through the door.

Baekhyun got his usual checkup, weight, blood pressure, and temperature taken by his nurse, who was just telling him that he was gaining the appropriate weight, his blood pressure was a little high, which had Chanyeol patting his hand worriedly, and that his temperature was average before Doctor Kim was coming in.

The smile on his doctor’s face had Baekhyun almost flushing in shame for hiding his pregnancy from Chanyeol for so long and she greeted Chanyeol happily, who was just as happy, playfully bantering with him to make sure he was being a doting partner for Baekhyun.

“Yes, yes, I am and I hope that I will continue to be now that we are engaged,” Chanyeol informed her, unable to contain his excitement; smile still bright on his face.

Doctor Kim cooed and looked at Baekhyun, who was starting to blush, “Ooh, Baekhyun-ah, have you spoken to your dear mother about this?”

“Ah, not yet, Doctor,” Baekhyun sheepishly replied.  “We are busy with our schedules right now and will be until the end of our contract.”

Doctor Kim just hummed, “Hmm, you plan on telling your mother soon after?  She has invited me for a dinner with her, your father, your brother, your sister-in-law and your little niece and nephew, and my father will be there as well, she asked that I tell you, as she has been unable to reach you.”

Baekhyun just thanked her, “Ah, Doctor Kim, could you please keep this on the downlow, just for a little while?  I know my mother has had her hands full because of my brother’s children, I don’t want to overwhelm her with this new information,” he then turned to glare at his fiancé, who apologized meekly.

“Of course, Baekhyun; doctor and patient confidentiality,” Doctor Kim winked and mimed zipping her lips.  “Now, then, how have you been lately?  I know we had to reschedule due to your busy schedule, but we always need to know how the parent to be is doing and that the baby is healthy.”

Baekhyun reassured her that he was fine and his morning sickness was mostly gone at this point, he happily rubbed at the small bump that was still very small, but at least he could see it better than he had before.

His doctor had him lie back again and got the ultrasound ready along with a smaller device that had almost the same wand tip at the ultrasound, “I know that you wanted to hold off the last time on hearing your baby’s heartbeat, because you wanted Chanyeol to be here,” she looked over to Chanyeol, seeing his eyes starting to glisten and she just smiled kindly to him.

Baekhyun nodded to her and felt Chanyeol’s much larger hand wrap around his own, he couldn’t look at him, because he’d start to cry if he looked at Chanyeol, who was already sniffling quietly.

Doctor Kim spread the petroleum-jelly on Baekhyun’s exposed belly and she used the smaller handheld device, “This is a doppler, we use this mostly for when you want to hear the baby’s heartbeat,” she said as she turned on the device and placed the wand under Baekhyun’s belly button.  She held the speaker with one hand, “Now, what you’re hearing is your own heartbeat, it’s much slower, the baby’s will be faster, faint, but we should be able to pick it up.”

Baekhyun was a little tense and Chanyeol was squeezing his hand, the tips of his fingers were slightly purple, “Yeol,” he whispered, tugging lightly at his hand.

“Sorry, sorry,” Chanyeol whispered, letting the grip let up a little, but he was still leaning on the edge of his seat, listening intently.  His gaze whipped to Baekhyun the moment he heard it, he heard Baekhyun’s heartbeat faintly, but when he saw Doctor Kim twist the wand slightly to the left, he could hear the quick pulse of his baby, he couldn’t speak or even breathe, he was just staring at Baekhyun with watery eyes.

Baekhyun had gasped, breath hitching, “Oh,” he whispered, looking to Chanyeol and his eyes started to water too when he looked into Chanyeol’s dewy eyes.  He took a slow breath so he wouldn’t get choked up and somehow mess up the feed they were getting from the doppler.

“That’s our baby,” Chanyeol whispered, voice cracking regardless.

Doctor Kim smiled and nodded, “Would you like to see them?  Your baby will be much more developed; you’re through your first trimester.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened at that information; he hadn’t realized how much time had passed and he soon was getting another wand moved to he same section where the doppler wand had been pressed.

Chanyeol’s attention zeroed in on the monitor and he didn’t even need Doctor Kim to tell him what he was looking for, he saw the baby’s head, and small body, and he could vaguely see the baby’s legs and arms that were curled close to its body.  He brought Baekhyun’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles and squeezed briefly before just holding Baekhyun’s hand between both of his, taking in the sight of their unborn child on the screen.

“Our baby has gotten so big from the last time I saw them,” Baekhyun whispered, he still got a little misty eyed from the growth, he had a feeling he’d never stop being on the brink of tears every time he had a checkup, because it was proof that his baby was healthy and growing a steady rate and that each month passed meant that they were closer to being able to hold their baby.

Chanyeol wiped at his eyes, “Can we get copies?”

“Of course,” Doctor Kim replied, “would you like more than one?”

Chanyeol nodded, “Maybe we should start a scrap book for our parents?  For when we’re settled into our house and we invite them over for dinner, we can give them both a book so they can see the progress of their grandchild.”

“That sounds really good,” Baekhyun agreed.

Doctor Kim printed off multiple copies, two for different scrap books, and two for Baekhyun and Chanyeol, “At this point in your baby’s growth, you can still exercise for about 20 to 30 minutes, walking on the treadmill is safe at the lowest setting and you can lift the lightest dumbbells, I would avoid excessive routines and exercises that require core work.”

Baekhyun could already tell that Chanyeol was making a mental list of what he can and can’t do, he was going to have to deal with the fact that Chanyeol was going to start hovering more than he did before and being extra helpful when it wasn’t required.  He held back a sigh and thanked his doctor; the pampering started immediately, he let Chanyeol gently wipe off the gel from his abdomen before letting his fiancé help him off the bed; he looked over to Doctor Kim with an exasperated look and saw her just smile.

Chanyeol held the door for Baekhyun and for the doctor before walking a little too closely, arms brushing most of the way to the next door that he held again for Baekhyun.  He took a copy of the appointment card and placed it in his wallet after he set a calendar event, he peeked at the newest ultrasound picture again before carefully placing it back into his wallet, glad that it was small enough that it didn’t get folded when he had to close his wallet to put it in his pocket.

“Okay, Chanyeol, just because I’m three months along does not mean you have to hold every door for me or hold my things,” Baekhyun finally blurted when again, Chanyeol held the office door open for him and then opened the van door for him when their manager arrived.

Chanyeol frowned, “But…but there’s _germs_ that you could touch,” he argued lamely and winced at the glare Baekhyun was staring at him with.

Baekhyun merely raised an eyebrow at him, “Chanyeol, I don’t know how to tell you this, but there are germs everywhere,” he stated before climbing into the van, feeling Chanyeol’s arm brace his elbow to help push him up and he gritted his teeth, the last thing he wanted was to snap at Chanyeol.

Their manager seemed amused, glancing at them in the rearview mirror occasionally with an amused look on his face when Chanyeol would start to fuss over Baekhyun, who was start griping at him to stop.

“I’m going to get you breakfast when we get back to the hotel,” Chanyeol promised when he was reading on how much someone expecting should eat.

“Chanyeol, I ate toast with avocado and I had an apple, I’m _fine_ ,” Baekhyun stressed.  He grumpily curled close to Chanyeol, determined to take a nap, but his giant dork of a partner kept pestering and pointing out things on a pregnancy article.

“But you still need a healthy intake of vitamin C, potassium, and you didn’t have any protein,” Chanyeol fretted, scrolling through his phone.

Baekhyun didn’t bother opening his eyes, just pressed against Chanyeol’s side to get more comfortable, “Guess I’ll just have to blow you later for those missing vitamins and minerals,” he deadpanned.

Chanyeol shrieked from that and gripped Baekhyun closer when the van swerved slightly on the road.  He heard their manager cough out an apology, still trying to clear his lungs from the coffee he had nearly choked on from Baekhyun’s earlier statement.  He lowered his voice, “No, you are not doing anything with your mouth.”

Baekhyun cracked open one eye, “Says you,” he growled, “you have the will of a cooked noodle when my mouth is involved with anything.”

Chanyeol just clamped a hand over the said offending orifice and gave Baekhyun a stern look, who was glaring up at him, “No,” he said, voice low and didn’t even let his hold relent when Baekhyun had childishly licked his palm.  He finally let up when he could feel Baekhyun’s pout on his palm and kissed his forehead, “You’re still such a brat.”

Baekhyun merely _hmphed_ at him, crossing his arms and closed his eyes again.  He felt Chanyeol’s arm settled around him, keeping him snug between Chanyeol’s side and his arm; it didn’t take much more to have him feeling safe and comfortable to the point where he nodded off, as it was starting to get cloudy and he loved stormy weather the most, as it was perfect for cuddling.

Chanyeol was the wideawake one now, gazing contentedly out the window at the passing buildings as he held Baekhyun, who was basically slumped in his lap at this point.  He looked down and a fond smile graced his face to see Baekhyun sleeping so soundlessly, mouth slightly parted, eyelids twitching slightly, and Chanyeol rubbed his thumb across Baekhyun’s soft cheek, hearing him murmur sleepily before rolling to tuck his face in closer to Chanyeol’s stomach.

He willed himself to remain calm, as now he was just acting like a hormonal teenager because he had such a cute boy so close him, not just cute though; _sinful_ too.  Chanyeol lightly slapped his cheeks, telling himself to stop, _He’s pregnant with your child!_ He mentally shrilled, but he still couldn’t get the thought of Baekhyun’s snide comment from earlier.

It was the longest and most uncomfortable two-hour drive of his life and he was so happy that he could gingerly shake Baekhyun awake and get him off his lap before his devious fiancé could tell that sometime was wrong with him.

Chanyeol carefully sat Baekhyun up, hands on Baekhyun’s smaller shoulders and he leaned forward to kiss his cheeks; he thought his heart was going to melt into goo when he saw how tired and puffy Baekhyun’s face was, his sad puppy eyes much droopier, lips in a small pout from being woken up, “We have today free, let’s get you to bed, hmm?” he cajoled.  He’d gladly carry Baekhyun out of the van, but he could see many fans outside, being stopped by guards and rope, and their relationship was still under wraps from the public eye.

He took the beanie that was in his jacket pocket and fixed it over Baekhyun’s messy hair and then put his jacket over Baekhyun’s shoulders to help hide the small development, not that it could be seen from the baggy sweater Baekhyun wore, but Chanyeol knew not to doubt the critical eye of their fans, he knew that the internet would briefly blow up with the fact that Baekhyun was wearing his jacket, he’d rather have them squealing about that and not putting facts together that Baekhyun was expecting.

Baekhyun sleepily stumbled his way out of the van, Chanyeol just a hair behind him, hand around his elbow as he was guided to the hotel lobby.  He heard the screams of their fans and he ducked his head, shuffling alongside with Chanyeol until they were inside, which he then shrugged off Chanyeol’s jacket, “Too warm,” he grumbled.

Chanyeol just smiled and took back his beanie and jacket and followed him to the elevators, “I mean it, get some more sleep and then I’ll make you eat more,” he said when they were heading upstairs to their shared room.  He felt Baekhyun press up against him, leaning on him, “Hmm, what was that?” he asked when he heard Baekhyun mumble something into his shirt.

“I said that I still want to blow you,” Baekhyun said, propping his chin on Chanyeol’s sternum.

Chanyeol spluttered, “B-Baekhyun, seriously? No!  You’re going to lie down and take a nap.”

“I don’t want to sleep,” Baekhyun huffed, slouching against Chanyeol again.  “We’ve barely touched each other in the last couple of weeks!” he exclaimed, trying to pin Chanyeol against the wall and grab him, he felt Chanyeol grab his hands and pin them to his sides and he scowled up at him.

“We can’t, what if we hurt the baby?” Chanyeol fretted.  He heard the elevator ding and he lurched back away from Baekhyun when a couple business men had stepped onto the elevator and Baekhyun unhappily stood next to him, sulking as they got off the elevator.

“We won’t,” Baekhyun said, glaring at the tacky carpeting.  “When I had to reschedule my appointment, I was talking to Nurse Rey and I asked her if intercourse was still okay to have, she said it was fine…just not to anything crazy.”

Chanyeol’s face was burning, he knew if he still had his hair dyed crimson that his cheeks would be matching and because not because Baekhyun’s nurse knew that they were together, but because she just assumed that they were a wild couple, when the most they’ve ever done was light bondage because he loved the pastel silk bonds looked against Baekhyun’s fair skin.  He grabbed their hotel room key from his wallet and swiped it through the lock and pushed the door open for Baekhyun, “You still should continue your nap,” he shakily reminded and avoided Baekhyun’s annoyed stare when he sat on the bed to kick his shoes off.

“Are you really not going to touch me for six more months?” Baekhyun asked as he started to remove his jeans that were starting to become somewhat constricting and those were his loosest ones in the waist.  He looked at Chanyeol, “Probably more than six months because we’ll have an infant to constantly tend to and then a toddler and if our baby is anything like you, they’ll probably be a clingy one.”

Chanyeol pouted at him, “My mother should have never showed you my baby albums.” Most of the pictures had been him clinging to his older sister or his mother’s skirts around the house, and pictures of him holding onto his grandmother and grandfather when he went to go visit them on their farm during the summer.

Baekhyun had his back to Chanyeol now after he had toed off his socks too and was pulling the covers back, “Which is why you should touch me all you can now while I still have energy and not big like I swallowed a watermelon whole and we’re still baby-less for the time being,” he stated matter-of-factly.  He jumped when he found himself pushed to his knees on the bed and he looked over his shoulder and felt his stomach flip at the dark bedroom eyes Chanyeol was giving him.

“You make a fair point,” Chanyeol caved and pulled his shirt off and felt Baekhyun’s nimble fingers starting at his belt before undoing his jeans and started to push them down, which Chanyeol finished removing himself and gripped the hem of Baekhyun’s sweater— _technically, his sweater—_ and carefully pulled it over Baekhyun’s head, musing his already ruffled hair, but Chanyeol still thought he looked cute.

Baekhyun whined when the kiss Chanyeol was giving him suddenly ended and went to sit up to follow him, but Chanyeol carefully made him lie back down, “You can’t do that to me and then back away!” he scowled.

“Hush, you’re being bratty,” Chanyeol teased.  “I’m going to grab the lube from my bag.”

“You packed lube?” Baekhyun asked, eyebrows raising.  “Didn’t you just go on a whole spiel that you didn’t want to have sex because of the baby?”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes at Baekhyun’s defensive attitude, grabbed the lube from his duffel bag before crouching over Baekhyun to trap his bratty partner under him, “Even if I didn’t fuck you, I would still get you off with my touch and my mouth, I wouldn’t just leave you untouched this whole time that you’re carrying our kid, I’m not _that_ cruel, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun swallowed unevenly at the low tone Chanyeol was chiding him with, “Nothing is cruel about you.”

“I wouldn’t say those words to me just yet, Hyunnie,” Chanyeol warned and he watched a slow blush spread across Baekhyun’s fair cheeks and chest.  He prompted Baekhyun to roll onto his side to face him and let Baekhyun toy with his hair, lips pressing petal soft kisses to his neck and chest, feeling the pads of his fingertips skim across his ribs along with a ghosting touch of manicured nails that had Chanyeol shivering a bit as he hiked Baekhyun’s top leg over his hip and then warmed the lube container with one hand as his other free hand traced slow patterns on Baekhyun’s back, knuckles brushing down Baekhyun’s spine that had his smaller lover arching up against him.

“Now you are being a tease,” Baekhyun grumbled, nipping a little harshly at Chanyeol’s collarbone.

Chanyeol just cooed at him, “Aww, I’m sorry, baby,” he leaned down to kiss at Baekhyun’s pout.  While he kissed and licked into Baekhyun’s mouth, he spread the lube onto his fingers before sliding that hand between Baekhyun’s legs.

Baekhyun startled a bit at the touch, but got distracted again as Chanyeol was nibbling at his bottom lip, worrying at it slightly before running his tongue slowly at the minorly bruised area.  He moaned quietly, eyes squeezing shut as Chanyeol had slipped two fingers into him and rocked unhurriedly against him; he was quick to snake a hand between their bodies and grip them both, he heard Chanyeol’s sharp hiss and Baekhyun momentarily lost his grip when Chanyeol gave a sudden twist of his fingers and a choked moan escaped Baekhyun’s lips.

“Relax,” Chanyeol breathed against Baekhyun’s ear when he felt Baekhyun tensing up.

Baekhyun tried to do as he was told.  He bowed his head against Chanyeol’s chest that was slightly damp under his touch, “Sensitive,” he shakily panted when Chanyeol was relentlessly rubbing at his sweet spot.  He tangled one hand in Chanyeol’s thick, dark hair while his other hand stroked them both at a shaky pace; he whined high in his throat when Chanyeol curled his fingers perfectly in him again, “ _Chan—”_ his cry of his fiancé’s name cut off when Chanyeol removed his fingers to push his leg up higher up Chanyeol’s side before three fingers were pushed into him and the sensation was too much; he came harshly, body shuddering against Chanyeol’s and the taller man effortlessly rolled him onto his knees before removing his fingers and then sliding himself into Baekhyun. Chanyeol’s muscled weight had Baekhyun’s upper half being pushed down towards the mattress, Chanyeol had laced their left hands together, while his right hand moved down to pull Baekhyun’s right thigh further out, spreading him further that had pleasured tears spring into Baekhyun’s eyes, “ _Oh,_ ” he whimpered quietly, biting at his knuckles briefly.

Chanyeol watched Baekhyun’s head bow and heard him muffle his swear into the one of the pillows, “Too much?” he asked, somewhat breathlessly, slowing his thrusts and he saw Baekhyun shake his head before rolling his hips back against Chanyeol’s sharply.  He kissed and sucked a light mark into Baekhyun’s neck as he rolled his hips firmly, not missing Baekhyun’s stuttered breathing, he gripped Baekhyun’s dick, stroking steadily, much slower than his thrusts, but Baekhyun didn’t seem to mind as he was trying desperately to muffle his moans and shaking under Chanyeol.

Baekhyun whined when he came for a second time, he could tell that Chanyeol was getting close as his pace was starting to become uneven and he started to push back against Chanyeol with each thrust until Chanyeol was coming in him.  He moaned perhaps a little too loudly, but he didn’t care, nor did Chanyeol seem to mind, as his fiancé just rolled him to his side carefully, still rocking into him, fingernails biting into Baekhyun’s hips, he felt Chanyeol shake behind him before stilling completely, grip loosening from Baekhyun’s hips.  He squeezed his knees together when Chanyeol’s hot, labored breaths were raking over his neck, which turned into blunt teeth sinking into the junction of his neck met shoulder, Chanyeol’s warm tongue started to slowly lave over the small indents after; Baekhyun was over sensitive now and pressed his knees tighter together, and he heard Chanyeol groan from Baekhyun squeezing around him.

“Easy, easy,” Chanyeol cajoled, massaging his thumb into Baekhyun’s hip, before coaxing Baekhyun’s thighs apart, strong fingers digging into the plump flesh of one thigh as he slowly parted them to slip out of his partner.  He barely had time to catch up with the pace Baekhyun was kissing him with, he splayed one hand on Baekhyun’s back, near the curve of his ass, while he rested on his forearm and felt Baekhyun weave both hands into his heavily mused hair.

Baekhyun finally pulled back first, he had to catch his breath, and laid down onto his back, chest coming up and down in quick pants, “You better swear to me that you will continue to fuck me like that, no matter how tired I get in the future, understand?” he demanded.  He felt Chanyeol nuzzle against his temple and he turned to press gentle kisses on Chanyeol’s cheek and jawline, “I mean it, Park.”

Chanyeol chuckled breathlessly, “Okay, okay, I swear I will.”

Baekhyun happily snuggled into Chanyeol’s chest after that, “Thank you, because I love your dick.”

Chanyeol just snorted, “I swear you only keep me around for sex.”

“Mm, no, I keep you around for more than just that,” Baekhyun impishly smiled at him that turned coy when Chanyeol’s eyes glinted.  He bit his bottom lip harshly, his whine turning into a muffled cry when Chanyeol’s hand covered his mouth when he felt Chanyeol’s thicker fingers push into him again, three of them twisting back into his sweet spot and he gripped Chanyeol’s wrist with both hands, fingernails digging into the delicate skin there as his whole body shook as he came for a third time.

“Sure you don’t just keep me around for the sex?” Chanyeol teased, voice silky in Baekhyun’s ear, who just let out a muffled whimper. He lightly dug a thumb on the inside of Baekhyun’s thigh, feeling his leg shake in his hold, “After you’ve calmed a bit, let me get you into a warm shower, sound good?”

Baekhyun could only mutely nod, he gasped softly when Chanyeol finally removed his hand from his mouth, “Kiss me,” he pleaded quietly.

Chanyeol lounged easily on his side to give Baekhyun what he wanted.  He leisurely mapped out Baekhyun’s mouth again, his left hand cupped Baekhyun’s jaw and pulled away after a few minutes and listened to his adorably, pouty fiancé whine at him, “You’ve had your 30 minutes of exercise for the day,” he grinned to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun’s jaw dropped as he gradually sat up, “You’re _horrible_ ,” he gapped at his mischievously grinning lover.

“Just giving what the doctor recommended,” Chanyeol responded.  He slid off the bed and easily lifted Baekhyun into his arms, “C’mon, shower time, we at least have to look presentable for the dinner we’re having tonight.”

Baekhyun complied somewhat reluctantly, but he’d enjoy the shower, especially from how his partner was pampering him and whatnot; he’d enjoy the more intimate moments, and let Chanyeol hold doors and cut his food for him with gritted teeth, it was a sacrifice he as willing to make to have great sex.

~~~

JunMyeon cornered the couple once they had come downstairs from cleaning up and were now sat at the dining table in the hotel’s dining section that following night, “Do you have pictures?” he asked, more like demanded, but the couple just humored him.

Chanyeol nodded and glanced around themselves, no one was paying any attention to them and he didn’t see any well hid fans either before he was grabbing his wallet and pulled out the ultrasound for JunMyeon to coo over, he had Yixing over his shoulder along with Jongdae, “Baby Baek is a little over three months, so Baekhyun is just fresh out of the gate of his first trimester.”

Jongin was smiling at Baekhyun at that news, “Hyung, congratulations.”

Baekhyun thanked him, blushing from the doting attention.

Kyungsoo turned his focus to Baekhyun, “Do you know what gender your baby will be?”

“No, it’s too early still,” Baekhyun informed him.  “16 to 20 weeks, I think, I’m just passing the 12th week.”

“Are you going to keep it a surprise?” Minseok asked him.

He and Chanyeol shared a look, he saw the pure excitement in his fiancé’s eyes, “I think we’ll ask to know what our baby will be.”

Minseok and Jongdae just rolled their eyes in sync and forcefully patted their leader’s back when he had turned to both of them, throwing himself over the two others.

Kyungsoo was just giving them both a fond smile, “I suppose it will help me figure out what to paint the nursery and your kid’s room when they get bigger and have interests.”

“You want to paint our kid’s room?” Chanyeol’s bottom lip wobbled and his eyes started to glisten.

Baekhyun just held Chanyeol when his partner started to blubber into his neck and he looked over to Kyungsoo with an exasperated look, who just laughed at the emotional outburst he caused.

Yixing was doing an excited wiggle dance in his chair, “I’m so excited for you two!  I’ll be sure to frequently visit on the holidays, especially for birthdays!” he promised.

The expecting couple were pleased to hear that, because they both had a small fear of them all drifting apart, which they knew was inevitable because even though they’d be able to live out their lives after the contract was over, they knew the majority of them would go traveling around the world or moving in general.

Chanyeol longed to go visit the Bahamas, sit out on their nice beaches and listen to the live bands play at festivals, he wanted to take Baekhyun there for their honeymoon as newlyweds, but he’d have to hold off, because one, Baekhyun was still a nervous flyer and two, Baekhyun was pregnant and Chanyeol didn’t want to stress his fiancé out anymore than he already was currently.

After they all had placed their orders, the group started to talk amongst themselves, Baekhyun rested his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder as he listened to different parts of the conversations floating on around him, he felt Chanyeol’s hand rest on his thigh, “I’m tired because of you,” he muttered.

“You asked for it,” Chanyeol reminded him cheekily, kissing the top of Baekhyun’s soft hair.  He was drawn into conversation with Jongin and Sehun, he would pat Baekhyun’s knee when Baekhyun squirmed around and heard him sigh, “Falling asleep?”

“I will if our food doesn’t come soon,” Baekhyun grumbled, eyes already half shut. 

Chanyeol just cooed at him and patted Baekhyun’s thigh, tracing patterns on the denim near the ticklish part of Baekhyun’s leg to keep him awake, which was working as the shorter kept squirmed and slapping his hand lightly ever few minutes.

Finally, their dinner arrived and Chanyeol was already preparing a letter wrap with freshly steamed rice, soy sauce baked chicken, and sliced avocado for Baekhyun, he had it rolled in record time before holding it as an offering for him.

Baekhyun just eyed it before pouting, “You don’t have to serve me first, Chanyeol.”

“But I want to and I like to feed you,” Chanyeol reminded him simply, nudging the rolled lettuce and protein at Baekhyun’s bottom lip and only smiled when Baekhyun finally relented and took a bite.  “Thank you,” he sweetly said as he dabbed at Baekhyun’s chin in a napkin.

“Geez, he sure has the daddy role down pat,” Jongdae teased him.

Chanyeol leered over Minseok’s head, while Baekhyun tried not to choke on his food and went back to tending to Baekhyun, by pouring him a glass of iced water and setting up his plate, while Baekhyun just pretended that his pride wasn’t starting to hurt.

 _For Chanyeol._ Baekhyun reminded himself.  _He’s learning how to parent…properly…over properly.  Whatever, I love him and he’s going to be a great dad._

He didn’t even get upset when Chanyeol cut his bite sized steak pieces into smaller bites, he just thanked his overly generous giant and snatched some pieces up with his chopsticks before eating his meat with rice and steamed broccoli.

Baekhyun may have stolen a couple bites from Chanyeol’s spicy lettuce roll and literally ate the sliced jalapeños that sat in their chili juice and had to stop a moan from the taste; he wasn’t surprised that he had started to have minor cravings and spicy things were currently on the top of his list; Baekhyun was just grateful that he wasn’t suffering any heartburn.

Chanyeol just happily provided for him, making sure Baekhyun had plenty of water and set off some veggie wraps to the side when he saw Kyungsoo eyeing him somewhat critically when Baekhyun had just been eating different meats the whole time.

The expecting idol did take a break when Kyungsoo slid his meat plate away from him, Baekhyun just pouted at him, but shifted to his veggie wraps, pleased that Chanyeol had at least put a few chili slices in with the broccoli, rice, and avocado and the lettuce wrap was slightly seared so it wasn’t too terrible.

Dinner had wrapped up after that, Baekhyun nearly put himself into a food coma and Chanyeol was carefully guiding him back to their shared bedroom, he could hear Jongdae and Sehun singing offkey together, those two had taken one too many soju shots that night.

Chanyeol opened their hotel room door and gingerly sat Baekhyun down onto the bed and removed his shoes for him.  He stripped down to just his undershirt and boxers, Baekhyun had already done the same thing, he placed their clothes on top of his closed suitcase before sliding into bed after shutting the lights off, he felt Baekhyun wrap himself around him like an octopus and Chanyeol merely chuckled, kissing Baekhyun’s cheeks.

“So full,” Baekhyun whined, tucking his face into Chanyeol’s neck. 

Chanyeol rubbed his side, “I’m glad you ate as you did, you’re eating for two now.  You’ve been a bit picky lately.”

Baekhyun was half asleep when Chanyeol was speaking to him, “Hm, not m’fault, Baby Baek is picky…”

“Already blaming the baby?” Chanyeol teased, fingers ghosting over the slight swell that was nestled between them.

Baekhyun snuggled closer, eyes still closed, “No, I like how we’re currently having the same tastes.”

“Same picky tastes?” Chanyeol teased again, kissing Baekhyun’s forehead, he was merely answered with a half-asleep hum.  “Okay, I won’t keep pestering, sleep, Hyunnie.”

The command fell on deaf ears, as Baekhyun had already fell asleep long before Chanyeol had even spoken. 

Chanyeol smiled sweetly down at Baekhyun’s peacefully sleeping face, eyes half-lidded as he pressed another kiss to Baekhyun’s forehead, his hand still resting on the slightly swell between them.  He was nodding off and wondering what their baby would look like, he hoped that their baby would be an equal mix of them, he hummed softly, hearing Baekhyun snuffle softly before tucking his face into Chanyeol’s neck.

It was comfort to Chanyeol, to have Baekhyun wrapped around him, he never felt lonely when Baekhyun was there; home was where his beloved was, _home_ is now with an additional person growing between them.

He couldn’t wait to hold that physical extra comfort into his arms.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday!~
> 
> I also made an AFF account just for my Kpop fics; I'll be posting on both!
> 
> My account: https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view_author_stories/1859340/L

Chanyeol was getting easily irritated, especially with how Baekhyun wasn’t listening to him.  It has been a month and a half, his expecting fiancé is now over four months, Baekhyun had his monthly checkup, Dr. Kim was now advising Baekhyun to settle down at this point, especially when Chanyeol had spoken up how excessive movement was starting to strain Baekhyun.

Of course, Baekhyun had given him the cold shoulder for the remainder of the day, Chanyeol’s arguments only pissing Baekhyun off even more until the point that he had actually shared Sehun’s room, leaving Chanyeol to scowl at his ceiling of his and Baekhyun’s hotel room until almost early morning.

It had been a week since that fight, Baekhyun had calmed down and so had Chanyeol, they had a “ _Forgive me for being annoying”_ dinner that consisted of take out in Styrofoam containers and eating on the balcony their newest hotel room had, sipping on water and green tea and having lazy shower sex, as Baekhyun was starting to get more exhausted easier and Chanyeol didn’t want to take away that rest Baekhyun needed.

The only thing that had Chanyeol keeping his mouth shut was that they had less than a month left and then Chanyeol was going to move them into that house he and Baekhyun had visited months ago, he had been surprised to see that it was still up on the market and was a little suspicious at first, but learned that most families just didn’t want to pay the price for the house, Chanyeol hadn’t minded, he had plenty to spare and then some; his offer had been accepted and he had secretly filled out the paperwork that was required, aced the background and credit checks, and he would have the keys by the end of the July, which was coming up soon.

Baekhyun had loved the house, and it had been the only house he had shown true interest into, and Chanyeol also used that knowledge to push through the internal screaming he consistently had going off in his head when he would see the grimace on Baekhyun’s face, the way he would slump to the floor, almost seeming unable to get back up.  Chanyeol would of course hurry over and give him a towel to dab at his face with and a bottle of cold water, while trying to remain inconspicuous as he rubbed the swell of Baekhyun’s stomach that had rounded more somewhat.

He kept a small mantra in his head with each practice and live performance and interviews Chanyeol did with his group, yes, he did loom over Baekhyun during interviews, but the fans ate it up for their “OTP” as it was called and Chanyeol sometimes went thick on the skin-ship, especially when Baekhyun struggled somewhat towards the end of a show.

The rest of the group let Chanyeol fret, Baekhyun silently let it happen, he knew he was pushing himself a little too hard and he’d remind himself to go easy when he was in the back, less noticeable for fans to catch or the cameras.

Chanyeol believed that he was doing fine, not forcing Baekhyun to take early breaks, just small suggestions for him to take it slower that Baekhyun actually heeded and would take smaller dance breaks in between, and would make sure his fiancé had plenty of water and snacks to nibble on.

Everything was going fine until it wasn’t, Chanyeol had just finished his rap solo during practice and they were all moving to their next step of the chorography when Baekhyun stopped in the middle of it, sucking in a sharp breath, Chanyeol saw the lead vocalist starting to fall and he saw Kyungsoo trying to break the fall, Chanyeol never sprinted so fast in his life, he ended up on his knees next to Baekhyun, the panicked ringing in his ears faded when he heard muffled shouting and he looked up and saw a red-faced chorographer shouting that Baekhyun was slacking off as he had done this a few times already.

Chanyeol’s lips pulled back into a snarl like he was some wild beast and stood back up, towering over the man, “ _Fuck_ _off!_ ” he bellowed, his voice sharp and threatening as he stood in front of Baekhyun, who was death griping Kyungsoo’s hand, panting quickly through the sharp pain, and eyes squeezed shut in anguish.

The room was silent after that and Chanyeol turned around to whisk Baekhyun up into his arms after the smaller stopped clinging to Kyungsoo’s hand like it was a lifeline.  He tossed one more glare at the choreographer, who had grown pale, and he saw the rest of his group had enraged glares on their faces as well, all leering at the man who had shouted at Baekhyun.

Chanyeol didn’t even feel bad that he had left that man to the wolves, he strode out of the room, Baekhyun gasping lightly in his arms, one delicate hand gripping the cloth over his shoulder tightly as Chanyeol took them to a private room and carefully sat on a couch with Baekhyun in his lap before letting his fiancé lean against his back, “Do I need to take you to the doctor’s?” he said, voice shaking slightly.

Baekhyun had gritted his teeth, moaning through the pain as he shook his head, he tilted his head back, resting on Chanyeol’s shoulder, “Just—” he stopped himself and took Chanyeol’s hand, making him press a little firmly on the side of his stomach.  He let out another pained moan, but he wasn’t panting anymore, his eyes were dewy with tears and his body was taut, “It’s subsiding,” he whispered after a few minutes of Chanyeol lightly massaging the area, as Baekhyun had pressed his own hand on the bottom half of his belly.

Chanyeol waited until Baekhyun was fully relaxed, his breathing coming much slower and evenly, “You’re done, Baekhyun,” he stated firmly.  “No more, you’re nearly more than halfway through your pregnancy, you’re _done_.”

“Chanyeol—”

“No,” Chanyeol snapped, cutting off the argument he could sense that Baekhyun was wanting to start.  “You’re straining yourself, which is going to hurt our baby, Baekhyun, enough.”

The sudden tears that sprung into Baekhyun’s eyes were just going to be a normal thing when it came to their baby, but Chanyeol raising his voice at Baekhyun, that made him get teary eyed was new.  Baekhyun felt like a little kid be scolded and he hastily fought the bottom lip tremble that started soon after the waterworks, he just made a small confirming sound that he heard Chanyeol, while fighting back the upset tears that were trying their hardest to spill over.

Chanyeol knew that something was wrong almost immediately, he saw by the slight shaking of Baekhyun’s shoulders and how he wasn’t speaking up, “Hey,” he murmured, hands running down Baekhyun’s sides and he looped his arms loosely around Baekhyun’s middle, “Did I upset you?” he asked, guilt evident in his tone.

“It’s just the hormones, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun replied stuffily, hiccupping softly.

“Even so, I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” Chanyeol continued, burying his face between Baekhyun’s shoulder blades, he didn’t mind the fact that the shirt that he had buried his face in was damp with sweat, he always found it odd how Baekhyun never smelled bad either when he was sweaty, which was why he never hesitated to be in Baekhyun’s space when they had finished practice or performing on stage.

Baekhyun wiped his eyes with the hem of his shirt and let out a final, shuddery breath, “I was still in the wrong though.  Doctor Kim told me not to push myself, you were just following her instructions.”

“We have less than a month until the contract is done, I don’t think the world is going to end if you go on medical leave for the remainder of the time,” Chanyeol said gently.  He bit back the sigh when he saw Baekhyun’s shaking his head and rested his chin over Baekhyun’s shoulder, “You’re being stubborn.”

“Our fans, Chanyeol, I can’t flake out like that,” Baekhyun frowned, “it won’t be fair to them, because they’re not going to see us anymore.”

“But they will understand if you’re on medical leave, I’ve read some reviews of our live performances that were uploaded, they can tell that something is wrong with you, they want you to rest,” Chanyeol informed him.  He kissed Baekhyun’s shoulder, “ _I_ want you to rest, you need to for our kid, who is now almost half a pound now, you have to _relax_ ,” he stressed.  “Our baby isn’t just a pinprick anymore,” he reminded softly. 

It was still astounding to Chanyeol, seeing the development of their baby’s growth, Doctor Kim had informed them that their baby was now the size of an avocado, developing sweat glands at this point, they could see their baby’s fingers and toes clearly when an ultrasound had been done, and Baekhyun was filling out more to accommodate for the baby, not that Chanyeol minded, he loved Baekhyun’s thighs, his already curvy hips were slightly more defined; Chanyeol loved those positive changes and he made sure that Baekhyun knew that he cherishing these changes.

Baekhyun silently nodded; he knew this and just let out a heavy sigh, relaxing against Chanyeol now, the taller lacing his hands together to cup the bottom of Baekhyun’s baby bump, “I’ll rest, I’ll stay on the sidelines for the remainder of the tour,” Baekhyun finally acceded, when he could tell that Chanyeol was silently waiting for his answer.

“Thank you,” Chanyeol murmured, pressing a warm kiss to Baekhyun’s neck, who just hummed softly, tilting his head aside to allow Chanyeol to further his attention to his neck.

The lead vocalist’s eyelids fluttered when Chanyeol pressed some teeth in the butterfly kisses he had been distributing before, Baekhyun murmured softly for Chanyeol to stop before they got too riled up, he took in a shaky breath when he felt Chanyeol’s arms tighten slightly around him, securely holding him, Chanyeol’s forearms pressing up gently against the baby bump, and Baekhyun felt a harsh shock of arousal pooling in his gut, tingling down his legs to his toes.

“I’m taking you to the hotel,” Chanyeol rumbled lowly in Baekhyun’s ear, eyes half lidded in pleasure as he felt Baekhyun softly shake from within his hold.  He pressed a couple more kisses to Baekhyun’s reddening neck before slowly letting him go.  He didn’t miss the quiet, unhappy whine that Baekhyun released and Chanyeol knelt down to cup Baekhyun’s face between his hands, his gaze traced over Baekhyun’s rosy cheeks, slight glazed look in his eyes from desire, and the abuse his bottom lip had gone through to muffle the sounds Baekhyun wanted to let out.  He leaned forward, kissing Baekhyun’s lush lips, he felt Baekhyun tangle his slender fingers into his hair; Chanyeol knew how much Baekhyun loved to kiss, it was Baekhyun’s favorite intimate thing to do with him other than having sex.  He swiped his tongue teasingly and felt the stuttered breath before Chanyeol was running his tongue into Baekhyun’s mouth, he fought back a wince at the more aggressive hold Baekhyun now had of his hair and he gradually pulled back when it was getting difficult to focus on kissing Baekhyun when all he wanted to do was put Baekhyun on his hands and knees and fuck him.

Baekhyun pouted, lips slightly puffy, but his hold relented, “You’re going to have to end up fucking me in this room before we go back to our hotel room,” he said and then ran his tongue slowly over his bottom lip.

“Wish I could, baby,” Chanyeol said, wanting to do that, to give his fiancé what he wanted.  He kissed him again, much softer this time before slowly pulling back, “But I’m getting you back to the hotel room, you’re going to get a nice, warm shower, some dinner, and then you’re going to get all those hours of rest that you need right now.”

Baekhyun gave him a considering look, tapping his index finger to his chin thoughtfully, “Will I get properly dicked down for good behavior?” he asked lightly.

“You need at least 30 minutes of exercise, so yes, but only for good behavior,” Chanyeol complied, grinning cheekily at Baekhyun’s eyeroll.

“You cheated me 15 minutes of “exercise” a week ago,” Baekhyun said as he slowly hefted himself up with the help of Chanyeol.

Chanyeol was carefully ushering Baekhyun out the room, “Sorry, Hyunnie, you just look so good when you ride me that I can’t last.”

Baekhyun was about to respond when he nearly ran into Kyungsoo, who’s owlish eyes were even extra wide, “Uhh, hi?” he sheepishly giggled at Kyungsoo’s mortified expression.

Kyungsoo gave them both a flat stare, “Keep that strictly in the bedroom,” he demanded.

“I’ve overheard _plenty_ of yours and Jongin’s conversations and what you guys do,” Chanyeol responded defensively.  He grimaced and his knees buckled slightly when Kyungsoo snatched his left ear in a pincer hold, “Ow!” he shrilled.

“Then keep your giant ears shut!” Kyungsoo hissed, dragged Chanyeol down the hall, while Baekhyun followed after him, giving his fiancé a sympathetic look as the taller was dragged down the hall like a misbehaving puppy.

“Ow, ow, _ow!_ ” Chanyeol cried as he had then been forcefully shoved through the doors that he had earlier stormed out of with Baekhyun in his arms.  He shot the shorter a glare as he rubbed at his tender ear, only inching back a little when Kyungsoo’s glare overpowered his.  He pouted to Baekhyun and leaned down slightly for Baekhyun to take his cue to kiss Chanyeol’s cheek, which the shorter did and then held Chanyeol’s hand that wasn’t holding his ear.

JunMyeon came up to them, “That trainer isn’t allowed back here for being so disrespectful,” he informed the couple.  He looked over Baekhyun, “Have the pains stopped?”

“Yes,” Baekhyun nodded, reassuring their leader, who shoulders slumped in relief.   

“But he’s done with rehearsing with us, I made him, he was supposed to stop doing extreme physical activity a month ago; doctor’s orders,” Chanyeol stated, he felt Baekhyun slap his bicep.

“Snitch,” Baekhyun grumbled, looking away from JunMyeon’s shocked expression.

“Byun Baekhyun!” JunMyeon shrilled.  “If you were your teenager self again, I’d ground you!”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, “Easy, old man, don’t keel over just because I’m trying to do my job.”

Jongdae and Minseok both sipped their waters and looked away when they heard that attitude and decided that they’d take an early lunch break away from the scolding Baekhyun was going to get.

“Your current job is to rest for the baby,” Kyungsoo reminded.  “You can’t just overexert yourself anymore, you could hurt yourself or your child.”

JunMyeon’s eyebrow was twitching, “What he said,” he stated through slightly gritted teeth.

Jongin and Sehun were both hiding behind Yixing, who was looking among his group members with concern.

“I talked to him, he won’t continue to practice,” Chanyeol swore, trying to calm JunMyeon down. 

“He’s right, I promised,” Baekhyun sighed, he looked down at his oversized T-shirt, if he pushed his tummy out, the roundness would show clearly, but he usually kept himself a little hunched and bowed to keep his secret from the public eye when he was out with people.

“Good,” JunMyeon huffed.  He looked to Chanyeol, “Take him back to the hotel, I’ll talk to our managers to work around this.”

“Can’t I still sing on stage?” Baekhyun asked when Chanyeol moved to turn him around to face him towards the doors.

“We’ll see,” JunMyeon responded.  “Just focus on not stressing yourself out.”

“Stress is bad for the baby,” Chanyeol said, like Baekhyun didn’t know this already.

At that moment, one of their assistant managers had walked in, she held a plastic bag filled with fruit snacks and she blinked in astonishment, “Baby?  What baby?” she asked, looking among the group.

The group panicked, minds racing to come up with something.

“Me,” Sehun blurted suddenly, stepping out from behind Yixing.  “Stress is bad for me, the baby of the group.”

The women blinked a couple times before bursting out into a fit of giggles, “Oh, Sehun-ah, you’re so cheeky!” she teased and started to distribute the snacks to each of them, still giggling, unaware of the group that was relaxing and missed the silent high-five Jongin gave Sehun.

Chanyeol laughed nervously as he thanked her for the snacks and then quickly guided Baekhyun out of the practice room.  He let out a heavy sigh of relief, “That was close.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about it so much,” Baekhyun grumbled to him, walking towards the elevator, Chanyeol easily following his stride.  He hit the down arrow and soon they were stepping onto the elevator he heard Chanyeol make a small sound and he turned to him curiously and saw Chanyeol reaching into his hoodie pocket.

Chanyeol opened the small square package that was flat and unfolded a mask that he then placed over Baekhyun’s face and tugged up his hood, “Gotta make it look like you’re sick.”

“Why were you carrying those around anyway?” Baekhyun’s question was slightly muffled.

“Because…what if you needed one?  I don’t want you to actually get sick,” Chanyeol murmured, almost shy as he fiddled with one of the bands that was hooked over his ear and smoothed Baekhyun’s hair down.

“You’re too sweet,” Baekhyun responded as his heart fluttered. 

Chanyeol leaned down and gently pressed their foreheads together, “I love you,” he whispered, joining his left hand with Baekhyun’s, they had both temporarily took their rings off in fear that they’d lose them during practice and while they were out performing in different locations, so Chanyeol kept them in the ring box that he had proposed to Baekhyun with, the box remained on the computer desk in their room.

They both exited the elevator and walked to the lobby doors of the practice building, they saw their manager’s van roll up and Chanyeol opened the door, the doors had somewhat muffled the cheers and screaming of their fans, but now once outside, it’s all he could hear, he brought Baekhyun close and acted as a shield and glanced over to him and saw that Baekhyun was keeping his head down.  Chanyeol opened the sliding door and helped Baekhyun in first before climbing in after him and then he was sliding the door shut, he held Baekhyun’s hand in his fiancé’s lap when they had buckled themselves in and then they were off.

“Baekhyun-ah, I’m so sorry that you had to deal with that crazy man,” their manager apologized, glancing at him the rearview mirror, a frown on his face.

“It’s okay, really,” Baekhyun replied.  “I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was saying anyway…”

“Is your child okay?” the older man pressed.

“Yes,” Baekhyun reassured him and smiled when he saw their manager’s eyes brighten. 

“That is good news, I will speak with the rest of the staff to excuse you, I understand you’re wanting to keep this under wraps, we will take care of that,” their manager promised.

“Thank you,” Baekhyun replied, voice wavering.  He really did respect their manager, he took care of them all, their manager was about ten years older than them, he was a deeply caring man and Baekhyun appreciated that, he was glad that they got someone who actually took their wellbeing and feelings into consideration.

Chanyeol was happy with that too, he leaned over to kiss Baekhyun’s temple, “Did you want any snacks?” he asked, pulling some of the fruit snacks from his hoodie pouch.

Baekhyun shook his head, “Still full from breakfast,” he said.

“That was almost four hours ago, we’ve been doing warmups and practice since then,” Chanyeol frowned.  He saw Baekhyun wrinkle his nose when he offered him some of the berry snacks, “I thought you liked these?”

“They smell weird,” Baekhyun hid his nose behind his sleeve covered hand.

Chanyeol quickly took them away, “Pregnancy has rewired you,” he teased and put the snacks away when it was clear that Baekhyun wanted nothing to do with them.

Baekhyun hummed in agreement, he relaxed against Chanyeol on the ride back to the hotel; he wondered what he’d be doing for the remainder of the week, as the group would be doing performances while he was stuck at the hotel.  He felt Chanyeol’s hand rest warmly on the back of his neck, thumb rubbing soothingly and his eyes slid shut at the soothing touch, “Chan?”

“Hmm?” Chanyeol questioned, looking up from his phone.

“What are we going to do next after our contract is finished?” Baekhyun murmured, glancing over to him, the worry was evident on his face.

Chanyeol touched his cheek gently, “Don’t worry about it, I have it taken care of.”

“That sounds threatening,” Baekhyun grinning slightly, he felt Chanyeol’s hand go back to resuming the slow circles on the back of his neck.  He tilted his head curiously, “What did you do?”

“I can’t tell you yet,” Chanyeol stated, he grinned at the slight narrow of Baekhyun’s eyes.  “I’ll tell you soon, but you don’t need to work yourself up.”

 _“Chanyeol,”_ Baekhyun grumbled, crossing his arms now, trying to pout the secret out of Chanyeol.

“If I tell you now, the surprise will be ruined,” Chanyeol said, averting his gaze to not crumble under Baekhyun’s cute charms.

Baekhyun batted his eyelashes, “Please?” he whined.

Chanyeol swallowed nervously, “You’re so mean,” he whispered and watched that cute, pleading smile on Baekhyun’s face slide into something devilish, but he was far too gone to take it back, “I…bought us a house,” he said quietly, bracing himself for the mini breakdown that was bound to happen.

“ _Park, Chanyeol, you did what?!”_


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm almost done writing this fic!~
> 
> I'm currently working on the last chapter. There will be three more chapters and then I'm moving onto my next ChanBaek project that's slowly taking shape ;)
> 
> This chapter is also being posted on my AFF account too!

Somehow, after Baekhyun’s panicky fit of outrage plus a new freakout because he thought he felt the baby kick—it was just his own heartbeat hammering into his side—the couple made it back to the hotel without crashing after Baekhyun’s shrill outrage on top of Chanyeol’s panic because he thought he had made Baekhyun go into pre-labor.  Their manager was giving Chanyeol a sympathetic look in the rearview mirror when Baekhyun had hopped out of the van the moment the vehicle came to a stop. 

“I can wait for about an hour if you want to try to console him,” their manager said when he saw the conflict on Chanyeol’s face.

Chanyeol didn’t waste a second, he hastily thanked their manager before sprinting out of the van and after Baekhyun, who had already vanished inside the hotel.  He saw that the elevator doors close, but he assumed Baekhyun had been in that one, he took the stairs, taking two at a time up to the fourth floor, he was winded by the time he was at the top, heartbeat throbbing in his gums when he took a few deep breaths before rushing to the room that he and Baekhyun were staying in.  He slid the keycard in the lock and found that he had luckily made it first and then waited impatiently for Baekhyun to show up.

He perked up when he heard the door unlocking and he stood up from the bed, he saw Baekhyun’s surprised look, “Baekhyun—” he didn’t get to say anything else before Baekhyun was spinning on his heel and heading out of the hotel room, Chanyeol strode after him, easily scooped him up, hiding a grin at Baekhyun’s sharp gasp, before carefully depositing him on their bed.

“I’m not going to listen to what you have to say because you did this without informing me first!” Baekhyun snapped when Chanyeol opened his mouth to start talking; he was sitting rigidly, arms folded across his chest as he glared up at his fiancé.

“This is a house that we already looked at, it was still up on the market,” Chanyeol said carefully.  “It was the house with the fenced backyard, the one that was close to the grocery stores and the schools.  I knew you liked that house, even though you were freaking out because the realtor kept mentioning that it was a nice house to raise a family.”

“It’s still far from our families,” Baekhyun responded sharply.  “Both of our parents will have to drive about 40 minutes to an hour to visit and the same for us!  What if something happens during their drive or our drive?” he demanded.

“Baekhyun, there aren’t any homes close enough that were for sale,” Chanyeol reminded him.  “I checked before I decided to get the house, there weren’t going to be any properties on the market that would meet our requirements either,” he cautiously sat on the edge of the bed, acting as if Baekhyun were a wild tiger about to pounce any second.  “We both can take the main roads to visit each other, you know those roads are always taken care of during the winter, Baek, you’re worrying too much.”

“I worry because something could happen at any time!” Baekhyun stubbornly replied.

“Anything can happen when we’re being driven to different locations for our performances, but we’ve been fine so far,” Chanyeol gently reminded him.  He saw the frustrated look on Baekhyun’s face, “This isn’t just about the house, is it?” he asked softly.

“…No,” Baekhyun finally answered after a moment of silence.  “I…just got upset because not only is this becoming an official thing for you and I, but I’m afraid because what if we’re found out?”

Chanyeol saw Baekhyun’s cheeks redden and he instantly moved closer, “Baekhyun,” he murmured, pulling Baekhyun into his lap now, wrapping his arms protectively around him and their unborn child.  “I will not let anything happen to you,” he swore, “either of you,” he added in softer tone, kissing Baekhyun’s cheek.

“I’m just afraid about having to uproot our life if we’re ever found out from our relationship, our marriage, our house, or worse, if people found out about our child, I would never forgive myself if our baby grew up unhappy,” Baekhyun confessed quietly, tucking his head under Chanyeol’s chin.

Chanyeol pressed a soft kiss to the top of Baekhyun’s head, “I won’t lie to you, people may find out about our kid, especially when they will start school, but our child will always be safe.”

“Chanyeol, there are _psychotic_ people out there,” Baekhyun said, pulling back to look him in the eye.  “I adore our fans, but we do have some terribly obsessed fans, even to this day,” he reminded him.  “I’m afraid that if they catch wind of us that they would do something crazy.”

“Maybe we could have them go to a private school?” Chanyeol suggested; parenting was still new uncharted territory for him.

Baekhyun gave him a wry grin, “The worst that could happen for a private school is that our kid could turn into a rebellious drug dealer.”

“Well, at least they’d be making a steady income,” Chanyeol replied jokingly.  He chuckled when Baekhyun slapped his chest, “But, I promise we’ll get it all figured out,” he said in a much serious tone, kissing Baekhyun gently.

“Okay,” Baekhyun relaxed somewhat.  “I’m sorry for freaking out on you, I do like that house a lot, I’m excited to move in!”

“It was a justified freak out,” Chanyeol smiled.  “I have to leave soon, our manager said he’d wait on me, but while I’m gone for the rest of the day, you have my full permission to pick all the furniture out.”

Baekhyun arched an elegant eyebrow, “You’re the one with the interior design degree.”

“Which will put my studies to work when I figure out where to place our furniture and what color schemes to match and clash for the dramatics of it,” Chanyeol winked.  He felt himself grow with ease when he saw a pleased smile light up Baekhyun’s face, he hated it when his fiancé was having a crisis or even a bit blue in the mood; he knelt down and kissed Baekhyun’s cheeks and lips again, never having enough of him and he smiled at the soft laugh Baekhyun emitted, “I love you,” he murmured, holding Baekhyun’s hands.

“I love you, too,” Baekhyun said, a small, warm smile on his face as he gazed into Chanyeol’s eyes.  “Be careful during practice, don’t strain anything, old man,” he teased when Chanyeol gave him one more kiss and stood up to head back downstairs to the van.

“You’re older than me by almost a year,” Chanyeol pouted adoringly, but promised that he’d be careful and would look out for the others too.  It did take him an embarrassingly amount of time to finally leave Baekhyun, he wondered if he’d ever leave the “honeymooning” phase, even though he and Baekhyun had been together for almost three years and now they were finally engaged, but given how much he still felt glee every time Baekhyun stepped into the room or even was mentioned, he just assumed that it would a long lasting thing, not that he minded.

Baekhyun finally had to push Chanyeol towards the door, laughing when Chanyeol would coo at him, stealing more kisses, “I love you, I love you, now please, hurry and go before our manager comes up here and drags you out by your ear like some bratty child!” he laughed.  He just fondly rolled his eyes when Chanyeol laced their fingers together and pulled him forward, until Baekhyun was mostly flush against him, the bump between them was now evident and it made a joyful feeling rush through him.

The taller idol clearly felt the same as he stooped down to his knees and pressed a soft kiss to where their baby was growing, “Bye, bye, Baby Baek, I love you, please don’t fuss too much, Umma needs rest too,” he whispered.

“Oh, no, please don’t start with that,” Baekhyun pleaded.

Chanyeol looked up at him, “Why?  The title is cute for you,” he said as he stood back up.

“It’s embarrassing, I’m not a girl,” Baekhyun frowned.

“It became a universal title for all people who are able to have kids,” Chanyeol reminded him.  “But you can be Appa too, if you would prefer that.”

Baekhyun swore to himself that he didn’t have a kink for Chanyeol to be called that, he just thought the title suited Chanyeol, and he mentally berated himself for the dirty thought, “It suits you more,” he said nervously, averting Chanyeol’s gaze.

Chanyeol just had a small smug grin on his face, “See you later, _Umma_ ,” he gave Baekhyun a final kiss for real this time before slipping out the hotel room door, leaving a very flustered Baekhyun behind.

~~~

Baekhyun had calmed down with a nice, warm bath with some cherry blossom scented suds, with a facemask, and flute of orange juice because the hotel staff liked to make them feel fancy.  He relaxed and stretched out a bit in the spacious tub, letting his eyes close, the bathroom vent hummed lowly, making enough white noise to let Baekhyun not feel uncomfortable by the silence, but still, there was enough silence to make him question his role.

He did wonder briefly what he’d preferred to be called, he didn’t mind the mother title, as technically, he was going to be a mother, he was carrying and would deliver his and Chanyeol’s child.  He had grown up with a female mother, a female grandmother, female great-grandmother, and his brother had a wife and two kids, who they called mother, so it was different for him to be the first and only male in his family to be able to have children. It was still a somewhat sensitive topic, because while there was still homophobia in the world, the narrowminded people still lumped carriers in with the female group, despite them identifying as male, and if you were a carrier and had a child and you preferred to be called _Umma_ , people still would get odd looks on their faces.

Baekhyun hated it, just because he was born a male and had the recessive gene to have offspring, it didn’t make him any less of a man than his male partner or some beef cake weight lifter.  Clearly, he didn’t mind being a carrier, he was happy that he was with child, he was over the moon that he could have a family with Chanyeol, he just hated people with nitpicking judgment, it was 2021 for fuck’s sake.

He grumbled to himself to relax, fretting would ruin the point of a calming bath and cause wrinkles and defeat the point of having a facemask.  Baekhyun took a sip of his orange juice before submerging himself up to his shoulders and let out a content sigh; he’d prepare a mental list of what he was going to do for the remainder of the day.

Furniture shopping was the first list, he’d find some stuff and save it for Chanyeol to look at too, he wasn’t just going to buy something if Chanyeol didn’t like it.  Next, he’d take all his and Chanyeol’s clothes to the laundry room that was on the first floor and wash their clothes, as they’d be staying a couple more days at this hotel before going back to Seoul to wrap up, and then after he’d get everything folded away, he’d stop by the convenience store and pick up a few favorite snacks and drinks for Chanyeol.

Satisfied with that small list, Baekhyun finished up his bath, feeling much better and with a sense of purpose, rather than just lying around all day; he never realized how anxiety ridden he’d become without anything to do.

Suddenly, the end of the contract with EXO with nothing planned in the future seemed to a monstrous void that Baekhyun would soon be falling in; he shoved that crippling dread to the furthest back part of his consciousness, because he had a chore list to start.

After getting himself dressed into a pair of joggers and one of Chanyeol’s sweatshirts, he tried to make himself not look as tired as he felt, he knew the lounging clothing wasn’t going to help, but he was nearly five months pregnant and people’s opinions of his style could shove it.

He collected his and Chanyeol’s dirty clothes into a bag, he made sure he had his phone and wallet before hauling the linen bag to the elevator and took it to the basement, where he took a trolley and put the bag in it so he didn’t strain himself any further.  He saw that there was only an elderly lady sitting on one of the benches, reading a novel, he bowed to her briefly, greeting her sweetly before tossing the dirty clothes into an unoccupied washer, he bought a small box of detergent and dryer sheets, dumped in the powder and shut the lid.  He dropped onto a free bench and took out his phone to do some furniture shopping to help pass the time, he knew it was rude to be sprawled out on it, but to be fair, the grandmotherly women didn’t even bat and eye and no one had walked in the laundry room either in the past 30 minutes and Baekhyun was grateful for that.

By the time he could put his stuff in the dyer, he had about five couches picked out that he liked and wanted Chanyeol to choose the one out the five, he went ahead and bought a bedframe and mattress, he remembered that the master bedroom had a giant walk in closet, but he still had a few vanity dressers picked out, he also had coffee tables picked out, rugs, recliners, and he was excited to start on the kitchen tables and chair, but first, he was helping the older women get her things out of the dryer.

“Thank you,” she gave him a kind smile and let Baekhyun guide her trolley back over to her bench.  “You should be careful though, dear, you’re expecting, you shouldn’t strain your back,” she chided lightly.

Baekhyun looked down at his belly and was confused on how she could tell, Baby Baek was hidden from view, “Ajumma, am I showing?” he asked nervously, turning sideways.

She just smiled to him as she started to fold her shirts, “No, but you do have a happy glow on you; I’ve had four babies, I know the signs and actions,” she mused.  “Take care of yourself and your little one.”

“I will, thank you,” Baekhyun shyly replied.  He loaded up the dryer and heard the older women tell him goodbye before she was slowly pushing her trolley out the open laundry room.

He sat back down on the bench with a low, heavy sigh, his hands cupped the swell, “Ajumma was right, I do need to slow down,” Baekhyun murmured, feeling so drained and it annoyed him how he was exhausted from doing laundry.  He knew that when he had been practicing with group he had been nearly on the line of blacking out, but all he would do was take short breaks until he felt fine again; he was upset with himself because he could have strained Baby Baek.

Baekhyun settled more comfortably on the bench and went through the remaining furniture that he wanted to pick out, and after he thought he had covered everything, he moved onto the baby furniture that he and Chanyeol picked out together a while ago, he traced the crib picture lightly with his finger, a faint smile on his face as he soothingly ran a hand over his baby bump and then went to look at other cute baby things to pass the time.

~~~

Chanyeol was doing a cooldown stretch, listening to his music when he felt his phone vibrate a couple times, indicating that he had a text.  He wiped the sweat from his brow before pulling his phone out of his pocket and saw that it was from Baekhyun, his exhausted mood lifted when Baekhyun had sent him pictures of baby outfits followed by teary eyed emojis.

He chuckled and sent a couple hearts in response before stretching out his other leg slowly and glanced at his phone again when Baekhyun sent him another text.  Chanyeol felt his mouth dry up when Baekhyun started to send him baby names, “He’s going to kill me,” he whispered.

“What did you do now?” Jongdae asked, passing Chanyeol a water when he had saw that Chanyeol wasn’t budging.

“Nothing, he’s sending baby names,” Chanyeol said, voice warm.

“Get the gender yet?” Jongdae asked, helping Chanyeol to his feet with a slight grimace; Chanyeol wasn’t a string bean anymore, he was lean, a perfect amount of muscle that Jongdae sort of envied, but was too lazy to actually acquire.

“No, we have about a couple more weeks until his next appointment, Baby Baek is growing healthily,” Chanyeol’s smile was bright as he walked with Jongdae, the others had left already, heading to the lobby.  He wiped his face with a towel and the back of his neck before tossing it into the hamper and followed Jongdae to the first floor.

“After we get cleaned up, the rest of us are going to gonna head out for dinner and maybe some karaoke, did you and Baek wanna join us?” Jongdae asked him.

Chanyeol shook his head ruefully, “Sorry, I’m probably just going to stay in tonight and I don’t want to leave Baekhyun alone all night.”

“Aww, you’re such a good and dedicated husband and father to be,” Jongdae cooed, pinching Chanyeol’s cheeks.

“Ooh, are we teasing Chanyeol about being an overly devoted husband?” Sehun grinned, poking Chanyeol in the ribs, who scowled and jumped away.

“He’s good at being devoted,” Kyungsoo added dryly, giving Chanyeol a glare, “Jongin and I only had to listen to Baekhyun scream about it for the last few nights.”

Chanyeol’s face instantly went red and he ducked his head, while the others just sniggered at his embarrassment.  It wasn’t his fault, Baekhyun had a sudden increased sex-drive due to his hormones being off the rails and Chanyeol wasn’t going to refuse him, not when Baekhyun looked so fuckable in his shirts and hoodies that swamped him, and Baekhyun knew how to get Chanyeol up embarrassingly fast.

That was kept to himself, of course, he just silently followed after his groupmates, who had thankfully moved onto a different conversation that was far more important: food.

Chanyeol sat in the back, he felt a sudden wave of exhaustion overcome him, but he fought through the urge to sleep, as the car trip to the hotel was only ten minutes and he if he nodded off now, he wouldn’t want to shower, which he was also in a dire need for.

He played a game on his phone to pass the time, as Baekhyun text him, saying that he was cleaning up a bit, Chanyeol left him to his own devices and let himself get immerged with his game before he felt the van coming to a stop and he looked up and saw that they were at the hotel.

Everyone filed out the van, rushing to their rooms to shower and take a quick nap before they went out for dinner, Yixing asked Chanyeol if he still wanted to go still and offered to bring back food for him and Baekhyun when Chanyeol still said that he wanted to stay behind.

Chanyeol stepped off the elevator first, everyone else following after before half went one way down the hall, and the rest went to the other side of the hall, Chanyeol was second to get to his room, Kyungsoo and Jongin sharing the room to the left of him, while Sehun and JunMyeon were further down the right.

He swiped the cardkey through the lock and Chanyeol shivered at the blast of cold air that swept over him, not that he minded as the hall felt a little humid, he stepped in and dropped his duffel bag by the door, toeing off his shoes and pushed them closer to his bag with his foot before rounding the corner, he heard some type of pop song playing from Baekhyun’s phone, who was humming along, he was sat on the ground, back to Chanyeol as he folded Chanyeol’s shirts, and it made the taller idol’s heart constrict to see Baekhyun in just a hoodie and socks; he was far too cute for Chanyeol to handle.

Baekhyun felt himself being watched and he startled when he turned his head and saw Chanyeol standing there, all in black, “Jesus, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun gasped, clutching the front of the hoodie with the now slightly wrinkled T-Shirt held tight in his other hand.

“Sorry,” Chanyeol chuckled.  “You just looked so cute and focused, I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Give me a heads up when you just want to stare at me like I’m your next victim to slash in a dark alleyway,” Baekhyun grumbled, turning back to finish folding their clothes.

Chanyeol just laughed again softly as he moved closer, “Don’t kill me, but I need clean clothes after I shower, I’m disgusting right now.”

Baekhyun grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a loose shirt for Chanyeol and handed them to him.  He hummed again with the song playing on his phone as Chanyeol thanked him before slinking off into the bathroom and when the door closed, Baekhyun shakily exhaled; he had been so close of climbing Chanyeol like a tree when he saw how ruffled he looked, skin still glistening somewhat from after practice, his workout shirt was tight and clingy to his biceps, and Baekhyun had wanted those arms around him immediately.

He grumbled at himself for control and hastily finished folding the clean laundry and placed them back into the suitcases, dividing the pants and shirts and underwear and socks into their own spots in their suitcases before standing back up with a low groan.  Baekhyun rubbed at his lower back when it had twinges spike through it and he shuffled over to the bed, he rolled onto his side as he just laid there, he felt better having someone with him now, he liked listening to the shower run and could hear Chanyeol’s muffled singing coming from behind the closed bathroom door.

Baekhyun loved this, he couldn’t wait until they were moved in their house and he could experience a new chapter of his life with Chanyeol; it made a bubbly feeling overtake him and he smiled happily to himself.  He was so distracted by those future domestic thoughts that he didn’t realize that Chanyeol had finished his shower until Chanyeol was sliding up behind him, warm from the shower, and he smelled like the fresh bodywash Baekhyun had bought earlier that day.

“Were you okay today?” Chanyeol asked, sliding a hand under the hoodie Baekhyun wore to have direct skin contact so he could rub his thumb across Baekhyun’s belly.

Baekhyun shivered, lightly squeezing his legs together, “What?  Did you think I couldn’t be by myself for a few hours?”

“Clearly I can’t leave you unattended for that long or else you go on a cleaning spree and leave the hotel to go buy snacks,” Chanyeol stated; he saw the plastic bags sitting on top of the mini fridge.

“I bought those for you, figured you’d be hungry after practice,” Baekhyun responded.

Chanyeol fought back a sigh, “You’re supposed to be resting,” he recapped Baekhyun with that sentence that felt like a hundred times.  He felt Baekhyun tense, “But thank you, I did need clean clothes to wear tomorrow and I’ll eat something later tonight,” he added sincerely, leaning up to kiss Baekhyun’s cheek.

“It’s not a big deal,” Baekhyun shrugged, he jumped a bit when Chanyeol’s fingers skated down his belly, skimming slowly across the waistband of Baekhyun’s boxers, bypassing down until he was at the hem and tugged teasingly at the hem before feeling his large, warm hand grip his thigh, he let out a soft shriek when Chanyeol dug his fingers into his thigh, the ticklish feeling racing up and down his leg, “Don’t do that!” he squirmed and tried to wriggled away as Chanyeol held fast.

Chanyeol hushed him and slid away slowly, turning Baekhyun onto his back, he eyed the way Baekhyun’s face reddened as Chanyeol push his hands up the hoodie, hands gripping his waist, “You’ve been turned on the moment I walked into the room,” he commented.

Baekhyun swallowed thickly, “H-how’d you guess that?”

“I know your body and actions fairly well by this point,” Chanyeol mused, slowly running his hands down Baekhyun’s spread thighs and back up again, feeling Baekhyun tremble under him.  “You’re going to be so worn out before the baby arrives,” he drawled, leaning over Baekhyun to kiss him slowly, rocking against him, listening to Baekhyun whine into the kiss.

“You’re not fair,” Baekhyun shakily said when Chanyeol pulled back.  He was the one used to corning Chanyeol for sex, his fiancé always was responsive and gave Baekhyun want he wanted, but it was still a bigger turn on when he didn’t have to do _anything_ , he loved it even more when Chanyeol was coming onto him.

Chanyeol tilted his head curiously at the statement, “What?”

“It’s not fair that you look like that, god, stop staring at me like I’m a complicated math problem, Chanyeol, and _fuck me_ ,” Baekhyun snapped.  He saw the sharp grin that slid across Chanyeol’s face and soon could tangle his fingers into Chanyeol’s dark, thick hair, “You looked so good when you walked in,” Baekhyun whispered.  “You’re just so strong looking, so lean, only for me to touch.”

The taller liked that comment, he hummed pleasantly, kissing down Baekhyun’s neck; he knew from the get-go that Baekhyun had a thing for how tall he was, how much Baekhyun liked his body, and knew that Baekhyun was a size queen before they had even gotten together physically; Baekhyun wasn’t shy about those types of conversations when they showered together back in the day.

Baekhyun let out a low groan when Chanyeol’s mouth went between his legs after his boxers had been pulled off.  He gripped the blankets in a vice grip when Chanyeol pressed a couple soft kisses in the dips of his hips, stroked him slowly a few times, before going down on him.  Baekhyun struggled not to arch up and he still felt Chanyeol’s hands pin his hips down, he whined and his back arched slightly as he raked his nails across the blankets to grip at them again when Chanyeol pushed his thighs further apart.  He felt too exposed and stretched, even though it was just Chanyeol, he shuddered when Chanyeol came off him with a lewd sound and all it took for Baekhyun to actually come was seeing that dark, lustful expression on Chanyeol’s face as he ran the back of his hand across his lips.

Chanyeol blinked at that, “I’m not judging you, I swear, but that was quick.”

Baekhyun hid his face, “Shut up.”

“You’re not going to have the holding stamina as you did, not until your body bounces back after having our kid,” Chanyeol reminded him; he read some health articles, especially the sex ones, because one, he was a man, two, Baekhyun was a man, and three, said male partner had a sudden spike of a sex drive and Chanyeol was determined to meet Baekhyun’s requests and leave him completely satisfied.

Baekhyun pushed the hoodie back down, unable to get his boxers as Chanyeol had thrown them to the floor, the embarrassed blush was still high on his cheeks and he let out a startled squeak when Chanyeol gripped his wrists and pinned them down on the mattress over his head, he saw the pure desire on Chanyeol’s face and he couldn’t even build up the air to question him.

“Who said that I was finished with you?” Chanyeol curiously asked, but the question was rhetorical.  He saw the arousal sweep through Baekhyun, hearing a soft whine leaving his plush lips, and then he was sliding himself back over Baekhyun; he was going to make Baekhyun _quake_.

~~~

If Baekhyun was a little particularly clingy that following morning, Chanyeol was wise enough not to say anything.  He just propped himself up over Baekhyun and kissed him languorously, feeling Baekhyun’s nails trace up his spine gently.  He was already working two fingers into Baekhyun as he kissed him, “Sorry, baby, gotta make it a fast one, I still have to shower and get ready,” he whispered, voice a little ragged as Baekhyun was gripping his dick and stroking him like he had all the time in the world.

Baekhyun’s eyes were hazy, he only hummed to Chanyeol’s statement, but still stroked Chanyeol at a slow, even pace.  He let out a shaky gasp when Chanyeol skillfully twisted his fingers, pushing deeper into Baekhyun, while Chanyeol’s tongue slid into his mouth before nipping sharply at his bottom lip and that undid Baekhyun.  He whined as Chanyeol fingerfucked him through his first orgasm of the day, but tallied up to his sixth one in total; he squeezed his thighs together, trying to stop Chanyeol from overstimulating him again as he had done many times last night; he had just been grateful that they hadn’t had the hotel staff at their door for noise complaints.

Chanyeol still just kissed him as Baekhyun continued to whine, he only stopped rubbing at his sweet spot when Baekhyun shook under him for a second time and he heard Baekhyun sob from it.  He saw the light tears in Baekhyun’s eyes, but they weren’t due to pain, well, maybe a little, but from the way Baekhyun was clinging to him and getting Chanyeol off, he can assume that his fiancé was just fine.

“No more,” Baekhyun whispered, voice hoarse from all the activity he got from Chanyeol from the night before.  He was _so_ sore, but he felt so good, properly fucked out to where he didn’t think that he could even feel any sort of arousal for the rest of the day.

“C’mon, let’s shower,” Chanyeol coaxed Baekhyun with a sweet kiss, carefully sitting him up.  He got a better view of Baekhyun in the light, seeing his handywork; his kiss marks completely covered Baekhyun’s neck, shoulders, collarbones, chest, and his nipples were puffy still from all the attention Chanyeol’s fingers and mouth gave them.  He was sure that he was going to need at least a two-layer coating of the best blending foundation for his own marks that Baekhyun left, he’d have to wear a black shirt because Baekhyun used him like a scratching post, but Chanyeol wouldn’t regret the multiple fuckings he gave Baekhyun, he didn’t even care if the makeup artists screeched at him for not being careful.

Baekhyun slowly slid off the bed, he had Chanyeol gripping his waist because his legs were so shaky, “Promise me you’ll do that to me after the baby is out because, _wow_ ,” he said breathlessly.

“Satisfied for the day?” Chanyeol asked cheekily.  He saw Baekhyun nod and he just grinned a smug grin, because he could be prideful when he wanted to be and rendering Baekhyun speechless was a hard accomplishment to achieve.  He started up the shower and helped Baekhyun in first when the temperature wasn’t scalding nor freezing and then climbed in behind him, he immediately started to wash his hair and felt Baekhyun brushing the sudsy loofa across his chest and he heard Baekhyun whistle lowly.

“Wow, I did not mean to bite you so much, the stylist noonas are going to come for my head,” Baekhyun pouted, poking at the bruise on Chanyeol’s pec that was in the perfect shape of his mouth. 

“Makeup exists for a reason,” Chanyeol shrugged and went back to rinsing out his hair.  He scrubbed Baekhyun down too, washing his back gently before the loofa was taken from him and Baekhyun kept his back to him as he gingerly washed his legs, “Bite your thighs too much?” he grinned.

“You’re not allowed near my thighs for a week,” Baekhyun grumbled.  “I don’t think I’ll be able to wear pants or sweats…”

“Good, you look so cute in just my shirts and hoodies,” Chanyeol told him.  He saw Baekhyun roll his eyes at him, “I’m serious!”

“I know you are because you stole all my jeans one time and hid them on the top shelf in our closet and I looked like a little kid walking in an oversized shirt in the dorm!” Baekhyun grumped at him.

“But it was cute,” Chanyeol said, tone matter-of-fact.

“Maybe for you,” Baekhyun huffed.  He had finished washing himself off and shut the water off and snatched a clean towel for himself and one for Chanyeol and patted himself dry, Chanyeol doing the same before they climbed out the shower, Baekhyun had to hold his towel as he could no longer tuck it around his waist, like Chanyeol.

Chanyeol barely fought back the grin at how adorable it was for the fear that Baekhyun may try to drown him.  He brushed his teeth next to Baekhyun and then followed him out to get dressed, he just dressed simply, as he’d be getting properly dressed for the concert that was happening that night, he grabbed the blow dryer and dried his and Baekhyun’s hair.

“I want to go with you guys, I know I’m not supposed to dance, but I still want to sing with you,” Baekhyun said when Chanyeol had shut the blow dryer off.  He really wanted to because he had a duet with Chanyeol for once, his vocals melded perfectly with Chanyeol’s rap solo and it was something they made together, the song was called _With Sincerity_ a catchy song meant for any type of relationship and their bandmates were happy with the song too.  Chanyeol had given Kyungsoo and Jongin verses that their lyrics would mingle, in a way, it was like their own proposal to each other, because Jongin told Chanyeol how he felt and Chanyeol put into proper lyrics and Kyungsoo had done the same.

“Maybe that can happen, I would like you on stage with me, singing with me,” Chanyeol replied.  “We’ll just have to see first.”

Baekhyun silently got dressed, Chanyeol doing the same before following Chanyeol out the door and they both went downstairs to get breakfast, they found JunMyeon, Sehun, and Minseok already there, sitting at a table and Chanyeol pulled up two chairs for him and Baekhyun.

“Morning,” Chanyeol greeted them and heard the three echo him.

“We should have stayed in like you,” Sehun grumbled, he looked tired.  “I’ve had two coffees and I’m still exhausted.”

“At least you can drink coffee,” Baekhyun told him; he didn’t usually crave coffee, but he recently craved it and every time he desired any type of coffee, he blamed Chanyeol for his tastes, because the baby was inheriting them, which only made Chanyeol laugh.

Chanyeol pulled out a chair for Baekhyun, “I’ll get your breakfast, you just sit and look pretty.”

“Don’t I always?” Baekhyun batted his eyelashes and saw Chanyeol chuckle, refraining from slapping the closest person next to him from his joy.  He did sit though and watched Chanyeol briefly before he was engaged into a conversation with JunMyeon and Minseok, Sehun was half asleep on JunMyeon’s shoulder at this point.

He was surprised that Chanyeol had come back so quickly, but Baekhyun just assumed with bitterness that his fiancé had finished so soon was because he had long legs and larger hands and could carry much more in one trip.

Chanyeol sat the plate of fluffy waffles, cut up strawberries, and a glass of orange juice in front of Baekhyun and kissed him real quick before settling next to him, he heard JunMyeon warn him not to be so open.

Baekhyun didn’t care at this point; their contract was going to be finished in two-weeks, who gave a fuck what fans saw.  He just snuggled next Chanyeol and ate his strawberries as Chanyeol diligently cut up his waffles for him and fed him some fruit too.

“You two are going to give me a cavity,” Jongdae joined them, looking dead to the world, he was inhaling his first cup of coffee like a man dying of thirst and took the offered toast that Minseok slid his way on a plate.

“You look awful, are you getting too old to be out partying like that?” Baekhyun teased him.

“It was fun though,” Sehun whined, even though he was now tucking his face back into JunMyeon’s neck to shield him from the lights.

“It was,” Minseok agreed taking a sip of his drink and nibbled on a plain pancake.

Jongdae could only nod, “But my head is screaming at me “ _you stupid bitch, why would you do that?”_   I have no answers, other than I just wanted to drink and sing the night away.”

“Oh, you sang it away all right, sang enough that the room down the hall complained,” JunMyeon frowned. 

“When you have vocals like mine, you’ll understand my everyday struggle,” Jongdae huffed.

Baekhyun just pursed his lips and then nodded, “He’s right though.”

“I have an alternative of a mute button,” Chanyeol said lowly and quickly stuffed his mouth with bacon when Baekhyun whipped his head to the side to glare at him.

JunMyeon was shielding Sehun’s ears, “It’s too early for that.”

Chanyeol merely hummed in disagreement at that and whined unhappily when Baekhyun slapped his arm and he pouted at him, until Baekhyun caved and gave him an apology kiss to make him feel better.

“Ugh,” Sehun gagged and heard Minseok cough in discomfort.

Jongdae was leaning back to glare at Sehun, “It literally takes zero won to shut the fuck up and never do that again when we’re all on the brink of death, thank you.”

“Now you know how I felt for four weeks,” Baekhyun told him, “but it was _every damn day_.”

“Yea, I’m seeing that and I’m never going to force that onto my partner,” Jongdae responded.  He didn’t miss the wounded look Chanyeol gave him, “What?”

“You don’t want a kid or kids?” Chanyeol asked.

Jongdae made a thoughtful noise, “I mean…not like, right now, maybe not for the next few years.  I like how my life is right now, I just settle down somewhere first when I’m finally done marking a few things off my bucket list, a family is one of them.”

Baekhyun didn’t miss the subtle exhale that Minseok released and he couldn’t tell because he was relieved that Jongdae had confessed that, or if it was a dejected one; he never really knew where Minseok and Jongdae stood, some days they acted like a couple, other days they just acted as normal friends, and he briefly wondered if they had a whole friends-with-benefits thing going on.

“It’s too early for this conversation,” Jongdae whined at Chanyeol, who just giggled out an apology.

Yixing, Kyungsoo, and Jongin finally trickled in, they all mumbled a good morning before hastily getting breakfast and ate what they could without getting sick, as they had woken up later and they were leaving in 15 minutes.

“Do you think you can handle being on stage?” Sehun asked Baekhyun when they were heading towards the lobby when their manager had text JunMyeon, saying that he was ready to drive them to where they’d be finishing their mini concert before moving onto the grand finale back in Seoul.

“If I’m allowed, I’ll probably just sit or walk around on stage and sing,” Baekhyun told him.

Chanyeol was anxious about that, “I know you don’t want to be found out and I’d prefer for…our surprise to remain under wraps for the time being,” he murmured.

The group piled into the large van and greeted their manager happily before getting buckled in and then were being driven to where the concert was being held.

Baekhyun shakily took Chanyeol’s hand into his own; this was it, the second to the last of what changed and shaped their lives into the people they were, the relationships they’ve formed, and the wonderful people they’ve met and been supported by.

It wasn’t going to be the end for Baekhyun, it’s was just the start.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When will EXO return from war??
> 
> I enjoyed Sehun and Chanyeol's new bop, I play it almost every morning to work and I love seeing Baekhyun get destroyed at games during livestreams and listening to him break the sound barrier, but pls, plsss....my crops need a new album drop to listen to on repeat.

To say the very least, Baekhyun cried enough after the final concert that he was worried that he wasn’t going to have any happy tears to shed for when his baby was born, even though he had a little over three-months to go.

Their last concert was the most glorious thing, filled with their new music, wrapping up with their debut songs, fan interaction, he was sad to see some of their longest fans who were around their age wiping away their tears, and listened to their stories when they had a sign meet that night and the very next morning.  Even though Baekhyun didn’t get to dance, he walked around stage, singing and smiling, which the planners had approved that, allowing the group to either perform or wander across the stage and wave and greet fans in the stadium, it was by far the biggest concert they ever had, but it was fun and heartwarming.

Besides that, the final concert fell on Jongdae's birthday, so there had been a lot of cake brought onto the stage, most it had been used for cake fights, and shoved into the birthday boy's face, their fans sang happy birthday to him, as Jongdae was pulled into tight hug and his bandmates sung to him as well; it had been the best birthday for him, in his opinion.

During signing events, Baekhyun went against the rules and hugged as many fans as he could, held hands, kisses to heads, and many smiles and tissues were given to everyone he met; he was very happy that his group felt the same way.  He was so tired, but he fought through it, until the almost three-hour fan meet was over and even then, he was waving and shouting happily, echoing their cheers back at them along with EXO.

“We are one, we are EXO!” they shouted and listened to their EXO-Ls scream and cheer back at them, and then it was over.  They wanted to stay out longer, but they had to get themselves ready for the large dinner party that Lee Soo-Man was going to put together for them in celebration of their years together, and to wish them all happy lives because they could anything they wanted now; their group was officially retired.

EXO finished their ten-year contract.

They were done.

When they had reached their dorm in silence and stood in the living room, it slowly dawned on them that they did not need to live here anymore, they were free to move anywhere they wanted, while they each thought it would be nice to have their own space and no longer have to share, it was still a devastating reality.

Sehun’s choked sob was the undoing to everything and all of them came into a giant hug, none of them complaining of how gross they all felt from being outside all day in the humid air and the sun.

Baekhyun was hugging JunMyeon tightly, whispering how much he appreciated him and thanked him for everything and all the hardships he went through and how well he kept his composure.  He felt JunMyeon’s tears dampening the collar of his shirt and he just squeezed him tighter, the baby was making that a little hard to do, but neither of them minded.

He finally let go and moved onto the closest to him, which was Jongin, who was hiccupping softly, and Baekhyun felt his eyes watering more and more as he soothingly ran his fingers through Jongin’s soft hair; Jongin was still so handsome and adorable, two things Baekhyun didn’t realize that could even meld together, but Jongin did it flawlessly.  He kissed Jongin’s cheeks and wiped away his tears, “Aigoo, Nini, I love you very much, I’m so proud,” he cooed, voice wobbling.

Jongin was just tearfully saying the same and wiggled Jongdae into their hug, who was trying to keep a smile on his face, but kept slipping up when new tears kept coming into his eyes.

Baekhyun hugged Jongdae too, “It’s okay, Dae,” he whispered and finally, Jongdae’s façade crumbled and he was pulling Baekhyun into a tight hug, tucking his face into Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“Chanyeol told me he got you guys a house,” Jongdae said, wiping at his face, “I want to help you guys move.”

“Of course,” Baekhyun said, he felt Chanyeol’s familiar touch press up against his back and felt Chanyeol kiss his neck; he felt the tears slide against his skin and held Chanyeol’s hand.

Sehun came over next, hugging both Baekhyun and Chanyeol, “I love you both,” Sehun whispered, “I’ll miss you guys so much.”

“Are you moving so suddenly?” Chanyeol asked him sadly.

“In a couple weeks, I have to get my stuff and schedule figured out,” Sehun murmured, patting his cheeks dry.

Baekhyun saw that Sehun was the one who was a wreck the most, “Moving to China?” he guessed.

“For a little while,” Sehun murmured, “just testing the waters there, Luhan is willing to move back to Korea when he’s done with movie production.”

“I’m happy for you two,” Chanyeol said.  He always knew that Sehun kept in contact with Luhan and Tao, and had tabs on Kris through Tao, he was glad that Sehun could finally go see him properly.

“If you two ever plan a baby shower, let me know, I’ll certainly drag Luhan to Korea for it, if you want us there,” Sehun told them.

Baekhyun blushed, “Sehun, are you reading my notes in my phone?”

“Sort of hard not to hear Chanyeol getting excited over party streamers and table cloths,” Sehun teased and heard Chanyeol groan at him.

“But of course I want you there, you can bring Luhan too, it would be nice to see him other than just crossing paths by chance, and see if you can drag Kris and Tao along too,” Baekhyun smiled at him.

Chanyeol perked up at that, he still messaged Tao and Kris, congratulating them on their new pieces of music or awards they got or movies they were in.  He was happy to have such great friends and was really excited about the baby shower, “We’ll mail invitations and your family members are more than welcome to come as well.”

“Even Vivi?” Sehun questioned him.

“We have fenced backyard now,” Baekhyun promised him.

Kyungsoo wiggled into the group, his eyes were a little red still, but he was smiling softly, “I don’t want to overstep my bounds, but I would like to cook for your party.”

“We’ll certainly need it, thank you,” Baekhyun’s throat got tight again and he barely refrained from sobbing when Kyungsoo pulled him into a hug.

“It’s not goodbye, we’ll always be nearby,” Kyungsoo murmured in his ear, squeezing Baekhyun lightly before stepping back to pull Chanyeol down into a hug.

Yixing and Minseok were the last two to jump Baekhyun into their hug, Yixing was still wiping his eyes as he wobbly told Baekhyun how much he loved him, would visit when he could, how proud he was of him and Chanyeol, wishing them the best, and demanded baby pictures the moment Baby Baek was home safe and sound.

Minseok was a little flustered, but he was talking calmly, “Jongdae said he wants to help you guys move, I’ll help you guys too, it would be nice to know where you are when I’d like to visit or plan on sending gifts.”

“You’re always welcome over,” Baekhyun said, hugging Minseok, which was a little hard to do as Yixing was clinging to Baekhyun, while having a tearful conversation with Chanyeol.

“I’ll be here at the dorm for at least a week, will you two be moving by then?” Minseok asked.

“Yes, we’ll be moving out in a couple days, we have to pack all of our stuff first,” Baekhyun said.  He felt Yixing hug him again before murmuring that he was going to go talk to JunMyeon, Baekhyun squeezed his hands and let go, Chanyeol was back in his space, crowding up behind him.

Chanyeol was nodding, overhearing the last bit of the conversation, “I’ll get a moving company ready and we’ll probably start packing up tomorrow morning.”

Minseok nodded at that and gave them a warm smile, “I wish the both of you guys and your little one the best.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol pulled him into a hug.

They’d be all right.

~~~

Moving was _literally_ the worst thing, especially when you had lived somewhere for ten years, even their dorm had been built-on for additional space meant that there was more stuff for Baekhyun and Chanyeol to comb through.  Baekhyun had put a ton of old clothes he no longer wore into a pile with Chanyeol’s old stuff, along with other miscellaneous things that neither of them had any idea where they obtained something or didn’t feel like they would need it at all.

Chanyeol had been text by his sister that she was already over at the house, delivering some decoration pieces and was watching for the delivery men to come and hookup the fridge, stove, dishwasher, and the washer and dry.  He was grateful for her and trusted her with it, his sister was very responsible and because she was there, it also meant that he could see his nephew.  His mother had excitedly text him and wanted to see the place as soon as possible, but he told her that he wanted to show her the house when it was completely furnished.

Baekhyun’s parents, grandmother, and brother felt the same, Baekhyun’s brother and his wife had popped over to see the place and see that everything was properly installed, as Baekbeom had experience with home equipment as he too had just recently moved with his wife and two children.

Baekhyun had also told his parents and his grandmother that he’d happily let them see his and Chanyeol’s new house once it was completely ready to be lived in.  He sighed heavily, resting back on his arms as he felt exhausted from moving his clothes from the closet to one pile to another and then packing the stuff he was going to take with him. 

The taller saw Baekhyun come to a stop, a small grimace on his face as he lightly rubbed at his belly, his legs were arched up, heels braced on the floor, “Baek?” Chanyeol called him worriedly, sliding over to him from his clothes pile.

“M’okay,” Baekhyun murmured, he took a few steady breaths, “Braxton Hicks,” he explained simply.  He hadn’t felt them in such a long time, it was a coming and going pain, they started around the fourth month for him, just a feeling of his abdomen tightening, he got them much more frequently as he got closer to his due date. 

Chanyeol slid behind him, letting Baekhyun drop his weight against his chest and he rubbed the other side of Baekhyun’s belly, Baekhyun was starting to become more noticeable now, even when he wore hoodies.  He was surprised that there was nothing on the media about Baekhyun’s pregnancy, as their fans of new and old were quite observant about everything, he even went through their tag and only saw happy and sad posts about their group coming to an end.

Baekhyun huffed slowly and groaned softly, the pain wasn’t terrible, hardly noticeable at first, but the further along he became with the weight of the baby, the faux contraction pains ached more.  He let his eyes flutter shut as Chanyeol ran his hand slowly up and down his chest, over the bump, and did that slowly, back and forth for a while.  When the pain finally subsided, his chest started to tingle and he thumped his head lightly back against Chanyeol’s chest in annoyance, “Seriously?” he grumbled lowly.

Chanyeol looked down at him, “What’s the matter?”

“Chest is starting to hurt,” Baekhyun murmured, a small blush on his face.  He wasn’t self-conscious of any of the changes of his body, he still looked good and Chanyeol couldn’t keep his hands to himself the majority of the time, he even got compliments that he looked healthier, more glowy-like, but he did have a problem with his chest that was starting to soften, undoubtfully due to the milk glands that were staring to develop, briefly, his chest would tingle in discomfort before fading away, and he’d be fine unless he wore a shirt that was too stiff or if Chanyeol got too handsy with his chest.

“Want me to get a hot-water pad?” Chanyeol offered him.  He felt Baekhyun shake his head.

“It’s fine, it’s stopping,” Baekhyun said after a moment, he hadn’t realized he had been clutching at Chanyeol’s thigh, but he certainly could feel that Chanyeol was Pavlov trained now by his hands on Chanyeol’s thighs.  It made arousal spike through him and he rocked his hips back slowly, feeling Chanyeol’s hands immediately snap to his hips.

“We have to sort and pack,” Chanyeol said, words stuttering somewhat.

“Breaks are important,” Baekhyun crooned.  He was only in one of Chanyeol’s shirts and a pair of boxers and turned in Chanyeol’s lap, lithe fingers undoing Chanyeol’s belt and Baekhyun slid a hand into his pants once the button and zipper were undone; he was practically a pro at how fast he could get Chanyeol’s pants off.

Chanyeol nearly choked and bit back a groan as Baekhyun’s slender fingers wrapped around him, pumping slowly, “Fine, _fine_ ,” he gritted out at the impish smile Baekhyun was giving him, he pushed his pants and boxers down just far enough so his dick was free and Baekhyun was removing his own boxers and getting the lube.

Baekhyun got to work quick, hands wrapped around Chanyeol’s cock, pumping him nice and slow, he nibbled at Chanyeol’s neck teasingly, “We’re gonna have to buy more lube, we’re almost out, we’re going to need _a lot_ once we get to our house, to you know, break it in.”

Chanyeol let out ragged breath and jerked Baekhyun’s closer, who let out a gleeful laugh, “You’re going to kill me with sex,” he groaned.  He slicked three of his fingers up before easing one into Baekhyun, working him open slowly and he loved listening to Baekhyun’s soft whines, feeling him rock back against the digits he was gradually adding and stretching him.  He could tell that Baekhyun was getting impatient and he removed his fingers, gripping the shirt that covered Baekhyun’s sides and let out a throaty moan as Baekhyun sank onto his dick, he felt Baekhyun’s soft, warm panting brush against his ear and Chanyeol tried to rock his hips up.

Baekhyun grinded down and lifted himself up before dropping back down, his fingers tangling into Chanyeol’s dark, thick hair and he felt Chanyeol’s strong hands grip his hips.  He felt Chanyeol’s tongue run along the seam of his lips and then he was parting his lips and letting his fiancé lick into his mouth; Baekhyun shook and moaned softly, his closed eyes fluttering at the sensation.

The rocking motion Baekhyun was doing was satisfying, Chanyeol didn’t have to lift him to get him to effectively ride him, he enjoyed the body-rolling motion he was doing with his hips.  Chanyeol tangled one hand into Baekhyun’s hair, to tilt it to the side so he could kiss Baekhyun deeper, as his other hand slid under the shirt Baekhyun wore to stroke his dick.

Baekhyun tilted his head back, lips parted in a soundless moan, one hand squeezing Chanyeol’s shoulder, as his other hand was loosely threaded in Chanyeol’s hair as Chanyeol necked him.  He was about to lift himself up and fuck himself on Chanyeol just how his fiancé liked it when he paused by Jongdae’s shout and knocking on the door before it was being shoved open.

Chanyeol never grabbed Baekhyun so fast in his life and sunk him down hard until they were flush with each other, he heard Baekhyun squeak and he barely held back a loud moan.  He shakily looked over Baekhyun’s shoulder, “Y-yea?”

Jongdae gave them a hard stare, “Aren’t you two supposed be packing and not necking each other like vampires?” he demanded.

“We were taking a break,” Chanyeol managed to get out, he felt Baekhyun practically vibrating in his arms.

Jongdae’s gaze swept over the bedroom, it was chaotic, “Do you two need help sorting?” he offered.

“No!” the both said quickly and too loudly, as Jongdae flinched at the shrillness.

“Okay, geez,” Jongdae frowned, “well, just shout if you guys need help.”

“Sure will, thank you,” Baekhyun said hurriedly, he felt Chanyeol’s nails digging into his thighs and he desperately wanted to wiggle his hips.

The moment the bedroom door clicked shut, Chanyeol rolled Baekhyun onto his back on a pile of clothes, he heard Baekhyun’s surprised gasp that hitched and turned into a moan that he muffled with his hands when Chanyeol slid out of him and pushed back into him.

“We were almost caught,” Baekhyun whispered shakily as Chanyeol rocked into him steadily, he had his legs wrapped tight around Chanyeol’s waist, fingers dug into Chanyeol’s shoulders.

“I know,” Chanyeol groaned into Baekhyun’s neck.

“It was hot,” Baekhyun confessed biting at Chanyeol’s earlobe and he felt Chanyeol come with a choked moan being muffled in his neck and Baekhyun’s giggles ended up turning into a breathy moan as Chanyeol got him off seconds later.

It was going to take them _forever_ to finish sorting and packing.

~~~

By some miracle, they were finished transporting the furniture over to their house and moving boxes, Baekhyun was so exhausted; he and Chanyeol hadn’t wasted anymore time during their first day of packing, eager to just get it done and get everything set up in their new house, but even with all the help of moving furniture in and putting it together and all the boxes they packed or bought that were filled with house things, it took them almost two-weeks to actually be _done_ with putting stuff away, storing boxes in their attic, decorations being placed and organized throughout the house.

He had finished mopping the kitchen and dining room for the second time that day, and the fourth time that week.  He wiped away the bit of perspiration from his forehead, thank god he wore a bandana to keep his bangs out of his face; he was so stingy about stuff touching him now, clothes were even starting to annoy him.

Baekhyun ripped the Swiffer pad off the mop and tossed it, grimacing at the dirt and tile dust that was all over the bottom, but now he could at least feel that the new tile was clean after scrubbing at the floor almost every day.  He heard Chanyeol whistle lowly and he turned and saw his now husband standing at the threshold where the living room carpet ended, leading into the kitchen.

“This look really suits you,” Chanyeol commented, he immediately took a picture before Baekhyun could threaten to beat him with a mop.  He set it as a new picture of his gallery that changed pictures on his lock screen every few minutes and he saw Baekhyun glare at him, lips thinned in annoyance.  He really thought Baekhyun looked cute, in one of his shirts, baggy, cotton capris sweatpants, a bandana to keep his hair out of his face, and more importantly, how good he looked carrying their unborn child.

“You’re annoying,” Baekhyun said flatly, gripping the mop before stalking off to the pantry to store the mop on the hook on the inside of the door.  He heard Chanyeol coo at him before he heard his husband coming over to him and tried to wrap his arms around him.  Baekhyun wriggled away, “Stop,” he frowned.

Chanyeol backed off and gave him an apologetic look, “Baby Baek still fussing?”

Baekhyun nodded, he was nearing seven-months and now their kid was active as ever, kicking when Baekhyun wanted to sleep, kicking when he was trying to eat, kicking when he was trying to relax, “He takes after the both us in the active part,” he grumped.

During the last doctor’s appointment, which had been about a week ago, Dr. Kim got the gender of the baby and they were having a boy, Chanyeol having a breakdown was an understatement; he had been _over the moon_ , he probably cried more than Baekhyun and he kept kissing Baekhyun’s face in the examination room, petting his hands and arms, it had been a little difficult to get the checkup finished.

Chanyeol had then set up a group chat and told them in large, bold letters that they were having a boy and he was crying while messaging them all, Baekhyun thought he was going to have to drive them home.

After that, it was like EXO were all living together again, because everyone had brought sleeping bags and air mattresses and brought dinner in from a restaurant and they all ate in the living room, watching a movie on the new TV Chanyeol bought, celebrating the night away until Baekhyun ended up going to bed first, the time only being nine at night; he was just so drained from the whole day of cleaning and getting poked and prodded at.

Jumping two days after the discovery of the gender of their kid, Chanyeol and Baekhyun went to the court house, finalized their marriage, signed their certificate, JunMyeon was their witness of the very quick and private ceremony, and they’d get their original marriage certificate in a week or so.  Lots of pictures had been taken by a teary-eyed JunMyeon and shared them with the rest of the group.

And now, here they were, house completed, officially married, and with a baby boy due within a couple months.  Baekhyun was ready for a stay-home vacation and just wanted to sleep until his due date, he was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything happening, but he was very happy, even though the first night they stayed in their new home, he cried and wrapped himself around Chanyeol, too emotional to sleep, which then had been a triggering thing because then Baby Baek had started to kick and then Chanyeol was an emotional wreck.

Chanyeol gently laced their left hands together, their rings touching, as he guided Baekhyun to the large, cushy couch and carefully sat Baekhyun down, “Why don’t you take a nap?  I’ll get lunch prepared, okay?”

Baekhyun nodded, he shifted back with a small grimace, the faux contraction pains were coming back again and he merely breathed through them, spreading his legs a bit and he noticed Chanyeol anxiously watching him, wringing his hands, “It’s okay, I’m not going into labor, Chanyeol.”

“I know, but it’s still upsetting to see you in pain,” Chanyeol frowned.  “Do you want me to get you anything right now?”

“No, I’m fine,” Baekhyun shook his head and slumped back, he rubbed his belly slowly, “He’s fine too.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol whispered, kissing Baekhyun’s forehead and then kissing the baby bump, murmuring softly to behave for Baekhyun before going to the kitchen to get lunch started.

Baekhyun really tried to keep cool about the whole adorable moment that just happened, but it was extremely difficult to do when Chanyeol was being so sweet; the last six months of Chanyeol being a dedicated partner had kept him calm, even through the scary moments during his pregnancy.

He felt Baby Baek calm down too, “You just love Appa more, don’t you?” Baekhyun asked him quietly.  “Well behaved for him, but when I ask, you throw a rave in there, I see how it is,” he sulked.

Chanyeol poked his head into the living room, “Sorry, I didn’t catch what you said, did you change your mind for something to snack on or drink?” he asked him.

“No, I was just talking to our son,” Baekhyun felt happy thrill jolt through him at that, “and I’m pouting because he’s already claimed you as his favorite and he hasn’t even met you yet!” he huffed.  He felt his heart flip flop in his chest at the fond smile that Chanyeol gave him and he could just see Chanyeol giving that same, adoring smile to their child.

The fond grin turned into a slightly smug one, “Of course I am, I’m going to be the coolest Appa on the block, Baek,” Chanyeol declared proudly.

Baekhyun nearly threw one of the couch pillows at him, but he was too comfortable to move, “Uh-huh, the biggest dork father ever to live and he’s all mine and Baby Baek’s,” he agreed and the flush rushing onto Chanyeol’s face had Baekhyun laughing softly.

“My weak heart, Baekhyun, I can’t handle it,” Chanyeol whined, hand held over his chest dramatically as he dropped to his knees.  He got back up when he heard Baekhyun’s stomach growl, “Right, right, I’m currently being a terrible husband to you and a terrible father to Baby Baek, you’re waiting on me to finish making lunch,” he said apologetically and hurried back to finish making the grilled-chicken wraps and steamed vegetables he had been working on.

Baekhyun had just watched him hustle away with a fond smile on his face; he couldn’t wait to have their baby in their arms.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Friday!
> 
> Just one more chapter!!! Then I'm starting my next ChanBaek fic! I won't give too much away, but I'll be posting on Fridays as I did for this one! I already have a few chapters typed up, so there won't be a delay!~

** Ten **

Just like Chanyeol and Baekhyun agreed, they would tell their families over dinner, the house was settled and everything was all nice and neat to Baekhyun’s uttermost pleasure, as he was currently feeling a bit in a nesting mood.

Chanyeol had to finally get Baekhyun out the nursery when he was still fussing with what corner he wanted the rocking chair to be in, and wanted to make sure that the baby’s bedding matched the paint Kyungsoo had applied to the walls.  He liked the room, it had a very Zen feel to it, he felt like he could just nap on the plush carpet with their son, the colors were relaxing, soft blues and purples took up the majority of the walls, the ceiling was left white, Kyungsoo had painted and dotted white stars across the galaxy themed paint and Baekhyun and Chanyeol had stuck glow in the dark stars on different parts of the walls as well.

But to the main part of the night: their families were coming over.

The newly married couple paced about the kitchen, frequently checking the food to make sure that it was properly done, empty cups were placed on the dining table, along with the plates, forks, spoons, and chopsticks on napkins, everything was neat and well placed.

Chanyeol had even gone out and bought a kid’s table for his sister’s son and for Baekhyun’s brother’s kids and set it up close by, within range of the parents in case they wanted to check up on them, Baekhyun had made out with him for ten minutes after that kind gesture.

And after another panicky moment Baekhyun let loose and Chanyeol trying to get him to calm down, the front door was being knocked on and Chanyeol kissed Baekhyun slowly and comfortingly, “Relax, Baek, this is going to be fine.”

Baekhyun trembled where he stood, “Our parents are going to be grandparents, my brother is going to be an uncle, your sister is going to be an aunt; I’m going to pass out.”

“Breathe, _breathe_ ,” Chanyeol said a bit quickly when he saw Baekhyun sway on his feet.  “Do you want to sit down?  I can get them and tell them that you’re just stirring the food.”

Baekhyun nodded and quickly turned to head into the kitchen, attempting to calm himself down from a panic attack.

Chanyeol just watched him go and then went to the door, he smiled widely when he saw his parent-in-laws and brother-in-law and greeted them as they came in, giving them hugs as they passed and gave Baekhyun’s grandmother a far gentler hug, and then he pulled his mother and sister into a tight hug when they came through.  He shook Yoora’s husband’s hand and then knelt down to pull his nephew into his arms and hugged the five-year-old tight.

“Uncle Channie!” Ki-Tae squeaked.

“How’s my favorite nephew?” Chanyeol cooed.

Ki-Tae giggled when Chanyeol kissed his cheeks, “Good!”

Baekhyun’s parents glanced around for their youngest son, “Do you know where Baekhyun is?” his mother asked him.

Chanyeol stood up, Ki-Tae in his arms, “He’s in the kitchen, probably making sure nothing is burned,” he laughed nervously.

Yoora gave him a worried look, stepping close when their families shifted to the dining room when Chanyeol gestured to where it was, “Is everything all right?” she whispered.  She gestured for her husband to take Ki-Tae and gave him a reassuring smile at his confusion, “Just big sister talk to the baby brother.”

Chanyeol didn’t even bother to sulk to her that he was almost 30, “Baekhyun is nervous, petrified, at the thought of telling his parents,” he said the moment his brother-in-law had left to the dining room with the other.

“Why?” Yoora curiously asked, tilting her head in the confusion.  “Baekhyunnie’s parents love you, they approved of your relationship, didn’t they?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol nodded, “he’s just nervous how they’re going to react because he’s well…almost ready to have our son,” he slapped a hand over his mouth and mentally hit himself when he saw Yoor’a comically wide eyes.

“I’m going to have a nephew?” Yoora whispered excitedly.

Chanyeol sighed, shoulders slumping, “You weren’t supposed to know until the baby shower that we’re having next weekend.”

“Ooh, I’ll be sure to practice my shocked face before then,” Yoora giggled, giving Chanyeol an over exaggerated one and smiled when her little brother laughed.

“We have two scrap books put together for both of our parents,” Chanyeol gestured to the cream-colored bags that had yellow tissue paper poking out from the bags.  “It’s just the ultrasound pictures and progress pictures of him and pictures of the both of us, we did sort of a maternity photoshoot.”

“That is the most adorable thing ever, and why don’t I have my own copy?” Yoora demanded at Chanyeol’s sheepish smile.

“You’ll have to play rock-paper-scissors with Umma then,” Chanyeol told her.

“You know she’s better than me,” Yoora puffed her cheeks at her brother.

The taller sibling just shrugged at her and gave her an amused smile, “Take that up with her.”

“You suck,” Yoora huffed.

“Mm, what I do with my life doesn’t concern you,” Chanyeol winked and watched his sister’s face turn red.

“Park Chanyeol, you cheeky thing!” Yoora exclaimed and pushed at him.

Chanyeol stumbled back with a laugh, “C’mon, let’s go eat before my husband goes into a cardiac arrest.”

“You guys plan on having an actual wedding, right?” his sister asked when Chanyeol stepped away.

“Yes, but after our kid is born, we’ll probably wait a year to have an actual ceremony,” Chanyeol said and led her to the dining room.  He saw Baekhyun talking to his parents, he saw how paled his face had become and his mother was worriedly feeling his forehead.

Chanyeol’s mother was even looking over to Baekhyun worriedly, when she saw her son walk in, she was up and crossing over to Chanyeol.

“Umma, don’t panic, he’s okay, he’s just nervous about tonight,” Chanyeol soothed her, holding her hands.

“He’s worrying over nothing,” she replied softly, “the food smells amazing and I bet it tastes good too, your house is beautiful, and I love the kiddie table and chairs for the babies,” she cooed, looking over to where her grandson was at, happily coloring with Baekhyun’s niece and nephew.

“I know, I’ve told him this multiple times,” Chanyeol informed her.

“Oh, the poor dear, he looks like he’s about to faint,” his mother fretted; she knew Baekhyun quite well, the outgoing boy who had swooped in and stolen her bountiful fruit’s heart, she had just been as smitten by Baekhyun’s cute smiles and adored Baekhyun’s stories and happiness he brought everywhere, she could trust that Baekhyun would make her son happy for the rest of his life.

“I’ll talk to him,” Chanyeol promised and watched his sister guide his mother back to her seat.  He went over to where Baekhyun was standing, having a soft conversation with his mother, “Hey, Baekhyunnie, why don’t you sit down?” he murmured, running his hand down Baekhyun’s back.  “I’ll make sure the food is served.”

Baekhyun nodded shakily, thanking him and sat down, he avoided his brother’s concerned stare and his father was giving him a worried look too, “I’m fine,” he said, “I’m just nervous because this is my new home, I wanted you to like it.”

“Baekhyun, this is a beautiful place,” his mother said gently, “I know you’ll be happy here with Chanyeol, I’ll expect great things, maybe some grandbabies from you too,” her smile was teasing.

Baekhyun’s grandmother smiled too, “You better have my great-grandbabies ready soon, Baekie, I want to see them before I’m gone!”

“Halmeoni!” Baekhyun frowned unhappily, “Please don’t say those things.”

“Halmeoni, are you already moving on to wanting different grandchildren?” Baekbeom pouted to her.  He winced as she pinched his cheek, “Ahh, I’m sorry, Halmeoni, I was only poking fun!”

“I will never tire your babies, they are too sweet to get tired of,” their grandmother said and let go of Baekbeom’s cheek.  “I know you and your handsome man will have pretty babies too.”

Baekhyun was flushing up to the tips of his eyes, nodding his head in thanks.

His father chuckled happily, “I’m never too old to be a grandpa for some new kiddos,” he added.

“I’d like to see my future grandchild too,” Chanyeol’s mother winked at Baekhyun.

“I’d like to see my future niece or nephew too,” Yoora commented, a sly grin on her lips.

Baekhyun cut his gaze over to Chanyeol, who was now busily staring at the bowl of freshly cooked rice, and he narrowed his eyes slightly at his husband; he couldn’t keep a secret from his sister ever.

“Everyone ready for food?” Chanyeol asked hurriedly.

Baekhyun let it slide…this time.

~~~

Dinner finished at a calm pace, the conversation was filled with laughter and funny stories, the children had plenty to babble about too and soon Chanyeol was serving dessert and evening alcohol.

Baekhyun, of course, didn’t drink, he was grateful for his persistence of not drinking when he become legal, because no one questioned him why he wasn’t drinking with them, he had tea with his grandmother, and just smiled at her endearingly when she talked about her flowers that she was caring for in her greenhouse.

“Won’t you come see them?  They’re thriving so well, despite summer coming to an end,” his grandmother said.

“Of course I’ll visit,” Baekhyun promised.  He ate the last of his apple rice cake and finished it off with his tea, sighing happily, he couldn’t stretch like he did when he ate well, because Baby Baek would be very visible through the cloth, even if he was wearing an extra-large hoodie that was even baggy on Chanyeol.

“Shall we head to the living room?” Chanyeol asked, he had picked up the plates and cups, refusing Baekhyun’s help, telling him to talk to his family and in-laws, kissing his cheeks and hurrying about.

Baekhyun nodded and saw that everyone else was following him, he watched his brother gently place his twin children down on the playmat his wife rolled out and he smiled softly; this was going to be him and Chanyeol soon.

Yoora had placed Ki-Tae down as well, “I’m so glad he plays so well with others, I’ve been nervous about him starting school!  He starts Kindergarten next year,” she said happily.

Baekbeom and his wife smiled at that “Jae-sung and Sang-mi started this year, they were very shy at first, but I’m glad that meeting other children has made them more playful.”

Chanyeol came back from the kitchen, leaving his sleeves rolled up from when he had rinsed the dishes off and put them in the dishwasher, and he looked over to Baekhyun, then glanced at the bags, he saw Baekhyun nod at him in confirmation and they both walked over to where the bags were sat on the ground and slightly out of view.

Baekhyun thanked Chanyeol when he handed him his bag and he walked up to his parents, “This is for you two,” he murmured, cheeks starting to redden again.

Chanyeol handed his mother the bag too, he was glad that their parents had sat next to each other, “For you, Umma,” he said bashfully and he and Baekhyun stepped back to sit on the ground, waiting expectantly.  He was running his hand soothingly up and down Baekhyun’s back, he could see Yoora wiggling slightly next to his mother in excitement.

Both sides fished out the purple book that had fluffy lambs on the cover, the center of it had a silver frame that had copies of the very first ultrasound, the silence was so strong, Baekhyun thought he could hear his baby’s heartbeat.

Both mothers whispered their son’s names at the same time.

Baekhyun thought he was going to pass out after that; had he misread the whole situation?  Had his mother just been joking about her wanting him to have kids?

His mother brought a hand up to her mouth and his father was gazing steadily at the first picture of the book.

Yoora finally broke the silence, cheering loudly, “I’m going to be an auntie! Ki-Tae, you’re going to have your first cousin!” she cheered and her husband clapped happily.

Baekbeom got up from the couch and helped Baekhyun stand to pull him into hug, “Woah, no wonder you kept back from the hugging,” he mused.  He leaned back to look down at his younger brother’s midsection, “How far are you?”

“Almost seven-months,” Baekhyun murmured, he looked to his parents and saw that they were silently flipping through the scrapbook; his nerves only grew worse.

Chanyeol was hugging his sister and he looked over to his mother, who quickly stood and embraced him, “You scared me for a second,” he confessed.

“My baby fruit is going to have his own,” his mother tearfully cried, wiping at her eyes, ignoring Chanyeol’s embarrassed spluttering, as Yoona cackled next to him.

Baekhyun’s mother finally placed the book down and got up, she walked over to Baekhyun and pulled him into a hug, “My baby boy, how much you have grown,” she whispered before cupping his face.  Her husband moved to join her, “I’m sorry, it must have been scary to see us react so quietly, I’m just in shock that’s all.  My blooming boy, all grown up to have his own pretty babies.”

“Umma,” Baekhyun’s bottom lip wobbled and hugged her, he felt her slender arms wrap around him snugly, he felt his dad’s strong hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.  He saw his grandmother flipping through the book too, a soft smile on her face.

When Baekhyun’s parents and brother finally released him, he approached his grandmother, sitting next to her, “I’ll be sure to bring him to your house to watch the flowers,” he promised her softly, not wanting to keep it secret from her, and he was glad that his family’s attention went to Chanyeol, congratulating him, while Baekbeom had put Chanyeol into a playful headlock.

“A boy?” his grandmother murmured thoughtfully and she smiled sincerely, “I look forward to having that bubbly personality in my arms, I’m sure he’ll be just a perfect mix of you and your sweet man.”

Baekhyun blushed, “I know he’ll love you the moment you hold him.”

“Still so sweet, my baby grandson is,” she chortled, taking one of Baekhyun’s hands between her own.  “Have you learned the due date yet?”

“Early December, most likely within the first week,” Baekhyun responded.  “So close, but yet, so far away,” he sighed.

“Oh, dearie, don’t you fret about that, you’ll have your little one in your arms soon enough,” his grandmother cooed, pinching his cheek gently.  “I am so proud of you Baekhyun, I know you’ll be a wonderful parent, you have a very well-groomed man by your side as well, you two will be just fine.  Halmeoni will be here too if you ever need anything,” her eyes went to where Chanyeol was standing, saying something that had her daughter laughing happily, and she could only smile at her daughter’s happiness.

Baekhyun fought back tears, “Thank you, Halmeoni, I love you so much,” he whispered. 

“I love you too,” her smiled was filled with joy.

~~~

Baekhyun struggled to stay awake, it was nearly eleven at night, the toddlers were clunked out on the playmat, and he was dozing off on Chanyeol’s shoulder, he just wanted to sleep so desperately and Baby Baek was tuckered out too, probably exhausted from all the conversation that was happening.

“We should go soon,” Baekhyun’s mom said softly, as she looked at her son, who was basically unconscious against Chanyeol now.

Chanyeol glanced down and smiled fondly, kissing the top of Baekhyun’s head, “He was a worried mess all day today and Baby Baek has been very active, so he’s tuckered out.”

“So cute,” Yoora cooed.  She smiled to he husband, “We should get going too, Ki-Tae should be in bed.”

“I’ll get him,” her husband murmured and collected their son, who barely fussed, he saw Baekbeom and his wife do the same thing for their kids.

Chanyeol carefully moved away after positioning Baekhyun against the couch and wouldn’t fall off in his sleep, he rolled up the playmat and followed the two couples out the door to their cars, “Baekhyun and I are going to have a baby shower next weekend, our groupmates are going to be there, you all can come too, if you don’t have plans.”

“I’ll certainly be there,” Yoora promised, her husband agreeing the same thing.

Baekbeom and his wife also said they’d show up.

Chanyeol was happy to hear there, “Oh, none of you are obligated to bring anything, Baekhyun and I are fine on baby stuff, our groupmates sort of went insane with it when we were still in EXO, they surprised us when we were moving.”

Yoora pouted, “I’m still going to get cute outfits!”

“Noona,” Chanyeol sighed and he caved at her sad eyes, “ _fine_.”

Yoora happily clapped her hands together, “I’ll be sure to find the cutest sets!”

After that, the rest of the family came out of the house, Chanyeol wished them all safe travels home, hugging everyone goodbye and stood on the doorstep and waved goodbye as they all drove away, before going inside, he shut and locked the front door, yawning sleepily.

He saw that Baekhyun was still asleep against the cushions, now covered with the throw-blanket they kept on the on back of the couch.  Chanyeol strode over to him and kissed Baekhyun’s cheek and ran his hand up and down Baekhyun’s arm, “Hyunnie, you gotta wake up for a little bit, okay?  I’d normally just carry you, but I don’t want to make you or Baby Baek uncomfortable,” he murmured, remembering that Baekhyun didn’t like to be curled up or bent over for too long.

Baekhyun murmured softly in his sleep, waking up just enough that he could stand, but still leaning on Chanyeol.  He felt Chanyeol’s arms around him and they made a slow trek upstairs to their bedroom, he sluggishly got undressed and merely pulled on a shirt before getting under the covers and was out again before Chanyeol even shut the lights off.

Chanyeol chuckled at that, he slid in behind Baekhyun, wrapping an arm under Baekhyun’s bump and sighed happily, kissing Baekhyun’s neck before letting himself nod off.

He and Baekhyun panicked over nothing, they had wonderful, supporting family, and Chanyeol was excited to get started on the baby shower, he couldn’t wait to see his mother’s and his parents-in-law’s reactions when the gender would be revealed.

He fell asleep overjoyed with the two center pieces of his world in his arms.

 


	11. FINAL!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, this story is done!~~
> 
> Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and kudos!~ I'm so happy that a lot of you enjoyed this fic because I enjoyed writing it! It felt really good to write something something so voluminous.
> 
> I haven't linked my new fic on here yet, because I haven't posted the first chapter just but you can find it on my works page! It'll be called "Sanguine Dusk" and that is the most edgy title I've ever had lmao. This fic is a mafia one and whoooboooy, it's a character flip-flop. SD will be cross-posted from this account and my AFF account that is under the same name as my Ao3 account.
> 
> Lastly, a slight warning towards the end, there will be a bit of a graphic delivery scene, but nothing too wild.
> 
> Thank you all again so much!!~~~~  
> -xx - M

Kyungsoo had come over to the Park residence early in the morning on Saturday with Jongin, he was cooking up hearty dishes with Chanyeol, while Jongin lingered in the back, going between helping with preparations and keeping Baekhyun entertained and frequently checking up on him, as Chanyeol text them worriedly the weekend that the baby shower was supposed to happen, but had been postponed two-weeks because Baekhyun had been feeling ill, suffering from heartburn, insomnia periods, and not in people-person mood for nearly a whole week.

Chanyeol had been keeping his distance as Baekhyun had requested it, he hadn’t been hurt, but he had been worried, checking on him while Baekhyun got a somewhat undisturbed nap, rubbing his shoulders, rubbing his feet, preparing warm bubble baths for him.

But now, Baekhyun seemed to be normal again, spirits somewhat uplifted to have friends around, affectionate with Chanyeol again, and sleeping well once more; Chanyeol only hoped that it would be smooth sailing for a few more weeks, as Baekhyun was now a little over seven-months along.

“How are you two?  You look exhausted,” Kyungsoo inquired, he was slicing up carrots and putting them off the side.  He glanced over to Chanyeol, he didn’t know if Chanyeol slightly rumpled appearance was because it was eight in the morning, or because he was stressing over Baekhyun; he assumed both.

Chanyeol was washing the rice, not looking at Kyungsoo as he spoke, “He’s exhausted and been in a mood, he’s been in a better mood since yesterday, but he’s just been aching.  I know he’s nervous about his due date, his doctor said that Baekhyun is going to carry to full term, exactly on the 4th of December.”

Kyungsoo’s smile was wide, “That’s just 6 weeks away.”

“I know,” Chanyeol’s response was shaky and he nearly dropped the pot of rice he had been handling.

“You don’t seem…overly pleased with that,” Kyungsoo told him hesitantly, giving him a curious look, he paused from cutting the carrots.

Chanyeol finally looked at him, “Of course I’m happy, I’m so excited to finally have our son in my arms, I’m just scared for Baekhyun, I can’t stand seeing him in pain.  Last week, I thought he was going into pre-labor because his back hurt so much and I had been freaking terrified; I didn’t know how to make the pain stop,” he said in a rushed tone, worries spilling out.

“There will be pain, it’s unavoidable, Chanyeol, he’s _forcing_ another living being out of him,” Kyungsoo told him, he saw the unhappiness on Chanyeol’s face.  “Epidurals may help, but there still will be discomfort.”

“I don’t want to see him in pain, but I’m not missing the birth of our son either,” Chanyeol sighed miserably. 

“Good, because I’d kill you for him if you bitched out because of that, Baekhyun will want you there right next to him,” Kyungsoo threatened him.  He went back to cutting up the vegetables, “Have you decided on a name yet?”

“We’re down to the final three names,” Chanyeol informed him. “Nam-Gi, Moon-Sik, and Jin-Woo.  Don’t let Baekhyun know that I told you, he’d give me the coldshoulder.”

“That would only last for 15-minutes,” Kyungsoo chuckled.  He hummed thoughtfully, “Those are all cute names…you’ll have to draw it from a hat.”

“We have been in a debate about it for a few days,” Chanyeol sighed.  “We’re also in a small hiss fit because I said that our son could take his last name, but he wants our baby to take my last name, which I argued that he’s the one doing all the labor work, and he said that he wanted to keep some traditional things in our lives,” he ranted, getting a little aggressive with the knife when he was cutting up the pork.

“What did he mean by that?” Kyungsoo asked him, blinking in confusion.

“I don’t know, he’s still sensitive about _him_ being the one with child, I’ll be honest, if I could have kids, I’d do it for him, but I don’t have the carrier genes.  Somedays he’s excited that he’s the one having our child, other days, he’s stingy and sensitive.  I think he reads too much on social media about the views of carriers, which those people can rot, because people can do whatever they want with their lives,” Chanyeol grumbled unhappily.  He was now setting the sliced pork to the side was slathering Korean barbeque sauce on the cuts and would let them soak for a while.

Kyungsoo made an unhappy sound, “He shouldn’t think like that, but we know him, we know that he’s actually happy, or else he wouldn’t have kept the baby.”

Chanyeol shivered at the thought of Baekhyun actually not wanting their son; he honestly wouldn’t have known what he would have done if Baekhyun didn’t keep their baby.  He shoved those thoughts away quickly, “Thank you for you for helping today, it’s greatly needed,” he changed the subject.  “Our families are going to show up around noon and the rest of our friends will be here around that time too.”

Kyungsoo waved him off, “I wanted to help,” he replied, taking the change of conversation in stride.  “Yes, Minseok and Jongdae are picking up cake and ice cream, they text me earlier before I came here.”

“Oh, Sehun text me yesterday, he said that Luhan, Kris, and Tao are going to show up too,” Chanyeol smiled happily at being able to see them, as they rarely came to Korea, they stuck with their activities in China.

“It will be nice to see them again,” Kyungsoo agreed.

~~~

Baekhyun cuddled into the pregnancy pillow Chanyeol had bought him during one of his panicky phases because Baekhyun wasn’t getting enough sleep.  He did like it a lot, it was very supportive and kept cool no matter how long he stayed wrapped around it.

He had just gotten comfortable again and was starting to doze back off when he felt warm fingers running down his exposed arm and he startled, eyes snapping open, he saw Chanyeol flinch back at his reaction and Baekhyun blinked tiredly at him.

“Sorry, it’s almost time for the party, some of our friends are already here, I didn’t know if you wanted to wash up before coming downstairs,” Chanyeol murmured, brushing back Baekhyun’s hair from his face.

“Okay, thank you,” Baekhyun murmured, eyes still droopy as he slowly maneuvered his way to sit up, Chanyeol helping him.

Chanyeol’s heart fluttered and he barely held back the urge to pinch Baekhyun’s cheeks and kiss all over his face from the droopy, puppy eyes and how pink his cheeks were from his nap.  He helped Baekhyun get off the bed and hugged him, “Did you nap well?”

“Sort of,” Baekhyun shrugged.  He rested his head against Chanyeol’s shoulder, “I’m so ready for Woo-Woo to be born,” he muttered, “I miss being able to sleep.”

“Woo-Woo?” Chanyeol blinked.

“I was thinking of nick names for our baby,” Baekhyun sheepishly admitted, “Woo-Woo was the cutest nickname for Jin-Woo, and the only cutest nickname out of the other ones.”

Chanyeol smiled, kissing Baekhyun’s forehead, “That is a cute nickname and I love the name Jin-Woo,” he murmured. 

“Park Jin-Woo,” Baekhyun nodded matter-of-factly, his tone was a bit challenging.

“Byun Jin-Woo is cute too,” Chanyeol said lightly, “but I’ll respect your decision of keeping tradition of children getting their father’s family name.”

“Thank you,” Baekhyun sighed in relief.  “My brother is continuing my family name, I want to continue yours.”

“Is that all you’re worried about?  Silly tradition?” Chanyeol mused, pinching Baekhyun’s cheek gently.

Baekhyun pointedly looked away, “There aren’t enough Parks in this world,” he mumbled hurriedly.

Chanyeol felt his face warm, “Park is common last name,” he teased, but still touched at the praise Baekhyun gave him.

“There aren’t enough of the Parks that I like in the world,” Baekhyun elaborated, cheeks puffed.  He heard Chanyeol coo at him and he struggled to get out of Chanyeol’s arms, who just turned him around so his back was to Chanyeol’s chest and he jumped when Chanyeol kissed his neck, “You’re bullying me!”

“No, this is me loving you and I’m for sure going to remember this moment until my dying breath, because you’re a sap!” Chanyeol laughed, tucking his face into Baekhyun’s neck.  “I love you so much,” he whispered, “with all the love goop in my heart.”

“Now you’re being sappy,” Baekhyun mumbled, cheeks turning pink.  He turned in Chanyeol’s hold, he kissed him softly, “I’m going to shower, I promise I’ll be downstairs in twenty minutes.”

Chanyeol pressed two more kisses to each of his cheeks, “Okay, I’ll be sure that everyone is rounded up and settled in the living room,” he promised.  They were having an indoor baby shower, as it was getting too nippy to go outside and have outside party games.

Baekhyun had to remove Chanyeol’s wandering hands three times before his husband actually let him go, and Baekhyun went to their connected bathroom to get ready.

Chanyeol tided up the bed a little bit and folded the throw blanket that they kept on the end of their bed before leaving the bedroom, closing the door behind himself and went back to the living room where the majority of their friends were already talking among themselves.  He saw Kyungsoo leaving the kitchen with a plate of appetizers and sat them on the coffee table, Jongdae and Yixing immediately went to town on the snacks, while Kyungsoo just glared at them briefly and went back into the kitchen to start on more snacks and check on the lunch.

“There’s the dad to be,” JunMyeon greeted Chanyeol, opening his arms and hugged Chanyeol tight.  “Where’s almost Umma?”

“Showering,” Chanyeol answered him, patting his back.  “He’ll be down shortly, he was taking a nap.”

“Ah, poor Hyunnie,” JunMyeon cooed sympathetically.  “And how are you handling?”

“I’ve been so happy that I’m surprised that you haven’t removed me from the group chat or blocked my number,” Chanyeol laughed.

“I’ve thought about it,” Minseok replied, sipping his drink.

“Hyung, you’re so mean,” Chanyeol whined.

Minseok just sipped his drink as he gave Chanyeol a bored stare.

Chanyeol was glad that he didn’t have to keep everyone entertained, as they were playing Wii Sports; he was forever grateful that no one had tired from that game, no matter how old it was.  He heard the front door being knocked on and he opened it and smiled when he saw his mother and sister, quickly waving them in as they came with gifts and food trays, “You guys didn’t have to bring anything!” he said as he helped them take the food platters into the kitchen.

“We weren’t just going to let Kyungsoo slave all day,” Yoora said, smiling to the said actor, who gave her a sweet smile in thanks.  She hugged her brother, “And I told you that I wanted to get cute clothes for your baby!”

Chanyeol just let his sister have his way, “Where’s Jae-Sun and Ki-Tae?” he asked.

“Oh, they stayed home today, Ki-Tae was feeling a little feverish, so Jae-Sun stayed behind to take care of him; there must be something going around,” Yoora explained to him.  “It’s nearing flu-season anyway…so make sure that you and Baekhyun wash your hands when you come home from any errands that you run.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that, Baekhyun doesn’t plan on leaving the house until our kid is ready to come out,” Chanyeol informed her.

“The less exposure the better, especially in his condition,” Chanyeol and Yora’s mother said.  She smiled at her son and wrapped him into a hug, “Is Baekhyun feeling better today?”

“Yes, he’s getting cleaned up and he’ll be down here in a few,” Chanyeol nodded to her.  He told his sister where she could place the giftbags, as there were already a growing number in the corner of the dining room; he was happy that his friends and family cared so much, but he and Baekhyun really didn’t need anything, Jin-Woo’s room—his heart sang to finally be able to call his son by his name—was stocked up on diapers, baby clothes, toys, blankets, bibs, bottles, and anything that a baby could need, but he’d suck it up, anything extra was beneficial for them and gifts from his loved ones.

“Sehun text me,” Jongin said, poking his head into the dining room and was looking to Chanyeol, “he’ll be here with the others in ten minutes or so, traffic isn’t that bad, he said.”

Chanyeol smiled happily, “Good!  I’m excited to see everyone again.”

Baekhyun’s family were next to show up, Chanyeol also helped them carry in their giftbags and felt his mouth start to water when he smelled the familiar pork belly sticks that Baekhyun’s grandma made, “Ah, I love you!” he declared and listened to the older woman chuckle happily.

“I hoped that you still liked these, I’m uncertain if Baekhyun can stomach them, but I still made them just in case,” she said as her daughter guided her to the couch.

“Would you like some tea?” Jongdae asked, bowing politely to the elderly woman.

“Yes, please, thank you,” she smiled kindly to Jongdae.  “Just a dot of honey and a teaspoon of sugar to be added, please.”

The lead vocalist could see Baekhyun in that smile and he nodded happily to her before going to the kitchen, after Chanyeol told him where the mugs were.

By the time Baekhyun came downstairs, everyone was talking amongst each other, he didn’t see Sehun yet, and he pattered around, greeting his parents and in-laws, before moving to the kitchen to get a drink.  He felt Chanyeol press up against his back, burying his face into his shoulder as his strong arms looped under his belly, “Everything okay?” Baekhyun asked him as Chanyeol hooked his chin over Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“Yea, I think everyone is enjoying themselves, the snacks are good, Kyungsoo killed it, and I’m excited to try the dinner he and I made, and—”

“No, I mean, are _you_ okay?  You’ve been overly stressed as I have been,” Baekhyun interrupted him softly, tilting his head to the side to glance at Chanyeol and stroked his fingers gently down his husband’s cheek.

Chanyeol nodded, kissing Baekhyun’s cheek, “A little tired, but I’m good.”

“You don’t have to lie to just protect me, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun chided.  “You know you can still confide in me.”

“I just don’t want to overwhelm you, our baby is due so soon, I know you’re getting achy from that, I don’t want to emotionally burden you when you’re already going through something,” Chanyeol murmured.

“Baby, I don’t mind,” Baekhyun turned in Chanyeol’s hold, cupping his taller husband’s face between his hands, “I love you and being a husband with a supporting shoulder or an open ear isn’t a job, if it was, we clearly wouldn’t be in a relationship, loving you as I do is something I could easily do for the rest of my life, even if that includes your random 2 am livestreams, you playing the keyboard at an ungodly hour too, but be warned, you’re dealing with our son if it wakes him up, or whatever else, I love you for you, which means you can always vent to me, even if I’m going through something and even if I’m ever pregnant again,” he ranted.

Chanyeol’s eyes were watery and he found it difficult to swallow around the lump in his throat, he merely hid his face in Baekhyun’s shoulder and nodded, as Baekhyun carded his fingers through his hair, murmuring softly in his ear about how much he loved him and how grateful he was to have someone like Chanyeol in his life.

Someone cleared their throat and Baekhyun turned his head to look over his shoulder and he felt Chanyeol lift his head just enough to peek over his shoulder.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Sehun apologized meekly, “I figured you guys knew we were here from Jongdae’s obnoxious screaming,” he gestured to Luhan, Tao, and Kris, who stood a little behind Sehun, hesitantly.

Baekhyun smiled to see them all, “It’s so good to see you!” he exclaimed.  He turned his smile to Chanyeol, who was hastily trying to make himself look like he hadn’t just about had an emotional breakdown.  He kissed Chanyeol softly, “Talk to me later, won’t you?” he whispered.

Chanyeol murmured that he would, squeezing Baekhyun’s hands briefly before giving the new guests a small grin, “Sorry, needed a moment to myself and panic because we’re going to be parents in just under a couple months.”

Kris just smiled and was the first to step forward, “It’s good to see you, man, the dad look is going to be just your style.”

Chanyeol nearly fell over with laughter.

Everything was going to be just fine.

~~~

The number of gifts the couple received was ridiculous, Baekhyun thought they were never going to need anything ever again, especially when he realized that they had even been given wedding gifts and apparently had more to come when they had their actual ceremony; Baekhyun was going to fight JunMyeon in an abandoned parking lot at 4 in the morning, because he gave _so much_.

“I think JunMyeon-Hyung is shooting to be the godfather,” Jongdae teased the former leader, nudging him playfully in the ribs.

“But he is,” Chanyeol blurted and felt Baekhyun smack his arm.

“It was supposed to be a surprise!” Baekhyun hissed, he thought JunMyeon was going to collapse, because Tao and Sehun were helping him move to the couch.

Chanyeol whined at him, “I’m sorry, I forgot!”

Everyone was still happy and excitedly congratulating JunMyeon regardless, who was being fanned by Yixing, and cooing to their former leader, JunMyeon was dabbing at his eyes.

Chanyeol laughed when JunMyeon finally came over to him and Baekhyun, “Hyung, you still look so ugly when you cry.”

“Yah, shut up, you brat!” JunMyeon blubbered.  “I wasn’t prepared at all!”

Baekhyun gave him playful grin as he was being hugged next, “We like to keep you on your toes.”

“You’ll send me into an early cardiac arrest,” JunMyeon fretted.  “Thank you both, so much, it truly is an honor.”

“You don’t have to thank us, if we can trust anyone to handle our kid, it’s you, because you’ve dealt with us for the last ten years,” Chanyeol smiled and he patted JunMyeon’s back when the elder’s eyes started to water again.

“Sheesh, at this rate, you’re going to win the most emotional award tonight,” Baekhyun teased him as he gently wiped away JunMyeon’s earlier tear tracks on his cheeks.

When JunMyeon had calmed down again, the couple finished opening the rest of gifts from their friends and family, Chanyeol hugged his sister when she gifted them more cute baby clothes and a hand-made blanket that he immediately packed into the very expensive and very nice diaper bag Tao gifted them; he wanted their son to be wrapped up it in when he was born.

“Your baby will only deserve the finest things,” Tao said when he saw Chanyeol’s shocked expression and Baekhyun almost swayed on his feet because he didn’t want to imagine how much that diaper bag cost; he was going to request that his son, when he had his own family someday, to use this diaper bag, and maybe write a book about it and name the novel:  Park-Hood of the Traveling Diaper Bag.

Kris had agreed with that and the giftbag he had given the couple was packed with baby clothes that almost made Baekhyun envious of his baby, “Your kid will have the sickest style,” he gestured to one of the _Supreme_ baby hoodies, “they’ll match you guys.”

Luhan gifted small guitars as decorations for the baby’s room and a set of tiny soccer socks that he nearly choked up after buying because, _wow_ , baby clothes were so adorable and precious.

“If our baby is anything like Baekhyun, they’ll have poor circulation in their feet,” Chanyeol laughed and saw Baekhyun huff at him.  “I’m used to being a human heater, so I’ll be happy to have more tiny feet to keep warm.”

Baekhyun’s mom was smiling and then playfully slapped her husband’s knee, “Yah, why can’t you be sweet like that?”

“Because we’re both freezing and I don’t need to be anymore cold than I already am!” he replied.

The group laughed at their bickering and then moved onto teasing Chanyeol, who just flushed under the attention, and hid his face in Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“You’ll have the most wonderful father, Baby-Baek,” Baekhyun murmured for only Chanyeol to hear, placing his hand over Chanyeol’s where it rested over their son.

“My heart is going to explode if you don’t stop,” Chanyeol whined.

Baekhyun just grinned at him and kissed Chanyeol’s cheek, “C’mon, I think everyone has waited long enough, time for cake.”

Kyungsoo took his cue and directed everyone to the dining room where a large, white fluffy cake sat in the middle of the kitchen table, the words “ _For the happy baby: Baby-Baek”_ were written in pastel yellow in neat, swirly cursive, all painstakingly made by Kyungsoo, because he loved a good challenge.

Jongin had collected paper-plates and plasticware, a gag gift from Jongdae, because again, he stated that he was not going to do the dishes.

Kyungsoo collected the longest knife and then looked at them all, “Everyone needs to close their eyes,” he said firmly.

Chanyeol shivered as Kyungsoo gripped the handle of the knife, “Y-yah, Kyungsoo, you don’t have to be so threatening!”

Baekhyun was hiding behind Chanyeol, and he noticed that everyone had taken a tiny step back.

“It’s a revealing cake,” Kyungsoo explained, toning back the stern tone.  “No peeking,” he said when he saw that everyone, except Chanyeol and Baekhyun had shut their eyes.  He cut the cake into even pieces and helped distribute the cake onto plates; they kept the traditional colors of the boy for the seniors in the room.  When he neatly lined up the plates and stood off to the side with the expecting couple.

“Okay,” the couple said and even though their group already knew they were having a boy, they still cheered loudly and nearly shook the damn house from jumping around; Chanyeol hoped the cops wouldn’t be called on them for the noise.

Yoora already knew, but she was still crying happily with her mother, who was giggling and picked up a plate of the white icing cake that had a beautiful sapphire blue middle that Kyungsoo had made himself.

Baekbeom immediately embraced his brother-in-law, “Congratulations!” he cheered and then carefully hugged his younger brother to him, kissing the top of his head.  “I’m so happy for you, Hyunnie,” he whispered.  “I’m eager to meet my nephew.”

“You and me both,” Baekhyun said a little breathlessly.  He hugged his parents next and then his grandmother, who gave him a knowing smile.  The waterworks started the moment he saw his strong figured father start to grow choked up in the middle of his congratulation’s speech to him and Chanyeol, and then Baekhyun couldn’t stop the happy tears after that, he was so happy that his family and friends were overjoyed.

Everyone ate their cake and still celebrated until the late afternoon, Baekhyun was exhausted and he had remained seated in the living room after everyone grabbed a plate of dessert, he wasn’t hungry for dessert and nor was he currently a fan of cake, which was a good thing, as he had completely cut back on his sweets intake.

After that, everyone helped pitch in with the clean up and the majority of EXO helped Chanyeol haul the baby’s new things into the nursery, where Baekhyun supervised and made sure they put things where he wanted them to go, and after the dresser was snug with new things, the changing station packed down with powder, wet wipes, and new diapers, and the collection of stuffed animals were on display, Baekhyun thanked them for all their hard work and did one last of nitpicking of his own before heading downstairs to wish everyone a good night.

When everyone had safely gotten to their vehicles and drove away, while Baekhyun and Chanyeol watched from the front porch, the couple let out heavy sighs of relief and locked up for the night; Baekhyun planned on throwing another party towards the end of the month for his husband’s birthday, so he at least had a couple weeks to rest and plan.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun took a quick shower together, while the large tub that was not attached to the shower filled up with warm water, Baekhyun added bubble bath and watched Chanyeol settle in first so he could help Baekhyun in and the shorter let out a content sigh and rested easily against Chanyeol’s chest.

The taller pressed kisses to Baekhyun’s warmed skin, “We did it,” Chanyeol murmured softly.

“We did,” Baekhyun agreed, eyes shutting as he relaxed against Chanyeol.

~~~

Chanyeol was pulled out of his light sleep when he felt the bed lurch and heard Baekhyun’s sharp gasp.  He wasn’t even bleary eyed when he sat up, he saw Baekhyun grimacing and holding a hand under his swell, “Do you need me to check you?” he asked, he saw Baekhyun nod, and he went to the bathroom and scrubbed his hands before grabbing a pair of gloves from the glovebox on the sink counter.

Dr. Kim had taught Chanyeol how to check Baekhyun when he was getting close to being in labor, she said that because this was Baekhyun’s first baby, he’d be in early labor for almost a day or longer, there wasn’t a set time limit to when he would be ready to go into active labor, as the cervix in his second sex would take longer to dilate.  Because it would take Baekhyun a long while to transition into active labor, Chanyeol could check Baekhyun’s dilation at home instead of being trapped in the hospital.

He had been keeping a list of the times between Baekhyun’s contractions, they started in the early morning, Baekhyun was reaching nearly seven hours, the gap of contractions were slowly coming together, he was now starting to have contractions every 10 minutes and last for nearly 20 seconds.

When Chanyeol came back, Baekhyun had removed his boxers, the oversized shirt was still covering him, he had gradually moved to the center of the bed for Chanyeol, an arm was draped over his eyes and his free hand fisted the blanket under him.

“You need to relax, baby,” Chanyeol murmured as he knelt on the edge of the bed.  He gingerly spread Baekhyun’s legs, “You’re too tense, breathe.”

“I _am_ ,” Baekhyun gritted.  The pain passed and he let out a ragged breath and relaxed when Chanyeol massaged his calf, breaths coming much easier.  He flinched a bit when he felt two fingers lightly push into his second sex and hesitantly a third, he tilted his head a little to see around his swell, he saw Chanyeol staring over his stomach, a concentrated look on his face, “You’d be the sexiest doctor,” he commented and drew Chanyeol’s attention from the wall to himself.

Chanyeol had withdrawn his hand as he blushed, “Hush.”

“Really though, I imagine you’d send people into pre-labor if you were a doctor,” Baekhyun said, relaxing back to stare up at the ceiling.  “So…” he drawled, “what’s the verdict?”

“You’re three centimeters, we should head to the hospital,” Chanyeol said as he rolled the glove off.  He threw it away in the trash bin and grabbed the stayover bag and put it by the door and went over to Baekhyun to help him sit up and get him dressed.  He pulled on a pair of slip-on shoes as he grabbed a pair for Baekhyun as well, he felt a bubble of anxiety starting to make itself known because they were heading to the hospital for real this time.

The first scare, had been on Chanyeol’s birthday, a week from Jin-Woo’s delivery date, they had been in the middle of cutting cake when Baekhyun made a soft whine of distress and sat down. Yixing had panicked when he saw the damp spot on the front of Baekhyun’s sweat pants—it had been water from when he had been washing dishes earlier and splashed himself—which had triggered the rest of their friends, panicking and having no idea what to do, while Kyungsoo somehow, was the most calm out of all of them and had told Baekhyun to take slow steady breaths, as the others were getting their cars out the driveway.

Chanyeol had nearly kicked the front door down, shouting into the early evening, he scared the hell out of their neighbor, who had been standing on the front porch, watching their dog patter through the grass, the dog had also been frightened and bolted under the porch.

Baekhyun, after discovering that it was just additional Braxton Hicks and saw that his water hadn’t broke, had Kyungsoo call Chanyeol back to the house and told him about the false alarm, and Chanyeol had dragged himself back inside, cheeks aflame and drained from running all over the house to make sure he had everything before they went to the hospital, as the rest of his friends dropped to the living room floor as well, hearts hammering in their chests.

Baekhyun groaned unhappily, “I feel like I should be fucking ready to have our kid by now,” he moaned.  He sat on the edge of the bed after he pulled on his sweatpants and held his belly; he just wanted to nap, but couldn’t rest long because his back would start to hurt and he’d wake up through the contractions.

“Soon, but Dr. Kim said we should go to the hospital when you’re about four centimeters dilated,” Chanyeol reminded him as he helped Baekhyun slip his shoes on.  He looked up quickly when he heard Baekhyun moan softly, eyes squeezing shut in discomfort, “Your contractions are getting much closer together as well,” Chanyeol murmured, rubbing Baekhyun’s back.

“Fair enough,” Baekhyun breathed shakily and had Chanyeol help him up and he was slowly walking to the bedroom door, as Chanyeol turned the lamps off, and snatched a travel blanket for Baekhyun and grabbed the diaper bag.

Chanyeol had his hand resting on Baekhyun’s lower back, taking one step at a time down the stairs, as Baekhyun was griping the railing with a near white-knuckled grasp, “Need a break?”

Baekhyun shook his head, “I’m okay,” he whispered, taking a couple more steps.

“It’s not a race,” Chanyeol commented and he ignored the sharp glare Baekhyun gave him.

They finally reached the car and Chanyeol got Baekhyun into the passenger seat and buckled him in, he saw Baekhyun grip the waist belt and pushed it off his belly, Chanyeol tucked the blanket over him next and kissed his forehead; Baekhyun felt clammy and he hurried over to the driver side after putting the diaper bag in the back.

He quickly text JunMyeon that they were heading the hospital and then Chanyeol was backing out the driveway when Baekhyun sucked in a deep breath and let out a soft whine of discomfort.

Chanyeol honest to God tried to obey the speed limit and kept the swearing inside his head when it seemed every stoplight seemed to catch him at red, he drummed his fingers anxiously on the steering wheel when Baekhyun’s small gasps were getting louder.

“Yeol, you starting to panic isn’t going to help,” Baekhyun said when he saw Chanyeol’s stricken face.  “Oh, _oh,_ ” Baekhyun grunted, he locked his spine when he felt sharp pressure on his pelvis, “That’s new,” he gritted out.

“Oh, God, did your water break?” Chanyeol asked him quickly, he sped up just a little bit, the hospital sign indicated that it was just five miles away.

“No,” Baekhyun hissed out, he was fighting back any other sounds as he could tell he was starting to scare Chanyeol.  He barely let a whimper pass his lips when another harsh wave of contractions hit the moment that they parked in the ER section.  He didn’t want to move because the pain was so bad and nearly screamed when Chanyeol had lifted him, “No, no, _no_ , stop!” Baekhyun gasped.

They were at the sliding doors and a receptionist who had heard Baekhyun looked outside and immediately was getting a wheelchair when she saw Baekhyun hunched over somewhat, Chanyeol was kneeling down, trying to conceal his panic.

“Sirs?” the receptionist called to them.

Chanyeol looked to her and stood up to help Baekhyun sit down in the wheelchair, “We have already filled out paperwork and had our doctor from another clinic station a room in the maternity section at this hospital for us, as it’s the closest hospital to our home,” he hurriedly informed her, pushing the wheelchair inside.

“Okay, just follow me,” the receptionist said, she waved to another nurse.  “Please cover, I’m taking them to the maternity ward,” she said and then was hustling towards the closest elevator.

“Oh, my God, oh, my God, _oh, my God!_ ” Baekhyun frantically chanted, fingernails digging into the padded armrests, he gasped when there was rushing feeling and he suddenly felt like he had pissed himself.  “Chanyeol, my water broke,” he whispered, shaking now.

This was happening way too suddenly and he was not comprehending this fast enough, Baekhyun wanted to mash the pause button, because Jin-Woo felt much firmer in his womb than he did before.

“Baekhyun, even breaths, you’re starting to hyperventilate,” Chanyeol said quickly; he thought he was going to start hyperventilating himself, his vision swam briefly as he moved to the front to stand before Baekhyun and he saw the paleness of Baekhyun’s face, the pure shock and panic that was clearly evident.

Everything was happening so fast that Baekhyun was surprised that he hadn’t gotten sick.  He barely remembering getting set up his room, nor had he realized that Chanyeol had changed him out of his sleep clothes and into a hospital gown.  He was propped up in a hospital bed and he cried for Chanyeol; there were too many people around and he couldn’t see his giant anywhere.

Chanyeol parted through the scurrying OB nurses and held Baekhyun’s hand, “I’m right here, Hyunnie,” he soothed, he turned back to the nurse that was rapidly asking him questions, from Baekhyun’s allergies, to contraction patterns, blood type, if he was anemic, or had any health conditions that they needed to be aware of.  He answered them just as quick, stammering due to nerves and when Baekhyun would squeeze his hand tightly.

“He’s about half way dilated,” the delivery nurse said.

“Dr. Choi will be called in when he’s completed dilated,” the nurse who had been asking Chanyeol questions stated.  She finished taking her notes and then grabbed a copy of Baekhyun’s medical chart that had been transferred over from Dr. Kim’s clinic, she gave the shaken couple a reassuring smile, “You’re both doing well.  Baekhyun, I’m going to call our epidural specialist in for you.”

Baekhyun nodded shakily, the contractions were now much longer and stronger, his legs shook in the stirrups he had been placed in; he felt awful and terribly exposed and Chanyeol was frantically petting his hand, mumbling incoherently.

Listening to Baekhyun’s pained grunts and having his hand nearly crushed in Baekhyun’s hold, Chanyeol thought that couldn’t have been the worst of it, he thought he was going to drop to the ground when he watched Baekhyun being given his epidural and then felt dizzy when the delivery nurse checked Baekhyun again almost an hour and a half later and was calling Dr. Choi in saying that Baekhyun was ready.

“Your body is certainly in a speedy need to push your baby out,” Dr. Choi said when she had doublechecked Baekhyun’s progress.  She gave Chanyeol a happy grin that was hidden behind her surgical mask, “Okay, Appa, I’m going to need you to just hold Umma’s hand and cheer him on when he seems like he’s getting too tired to push, because it’s time to bring your baby boy out.”

Chanyeol just prayed that he wouldn’t black out.

~~~

Baekhyun swore to high heaven and hell that he’d _never_ have another baby again, he was terribly exhausted, his baby was just now starting to crown after almost two and half hours of pushing, he was gasping, sweating heavily; he thought he was going to pass out.  He could feel his baby starting to rotate and he felt Dr. Choi’s hands help guiding the process of that, he gasped sharply when felt his baby’s head breach and he shuddered as another wave of contractions shook him.

“Breathe,” Chanyeol whispered, his voice was weak to his own ears and his hand that was being held in Baekhyun’s crushing grip had long ago went numb.  He was sitting on a stool closest to Baekhyun’s bedside, he was holding himself back from patting Baekhyun’s arm, or any touching, as his husband snapped at him for touching him earlier and Chanyeol backed off; he teared up once when Baekhyun started to dry-sob from exhaustion, because he couldn’t even hold him through it.

“Almost got a shoulder popped out,” Dr. Choi urged Baekhyun on.  “Another push, Baekhyun!” she encouraged.

Baekhyun gritted his teeth and did what he was told; he honestly thought that the rigorous training for dance rehearsals were far easier than giving birth, he’d rather prefer training for hours than this and that’s exactly what he cried to Chanyeol, who just made a miserable sound, because Baekhyun was hurting and there was _nothing_ he could do other than be a supporting presence and hold his hand.

He felt one of Jin-Woo’s shoulders pop out and then he was letting out a loud groan when he gave one _long_ , final push and suddenly, he felt empty.  Baekhyun slumped back against the damp sheets, he felt Chanyeol running a cool cloth against his forehead and a nurse stood on the other side of Baekhyun and had put an oxygen mask on him when he was panting weakly.

They both jerked when they heard their baby’s loud wail for the first time, he had a pair of lungs that could rival Baekhyun’s and they were both stunned for a moment; this was their baby crying out loud, this was their son who Baekhyun had carried in him for nine months, this was their son they only saw through ultrasounds, and now he was here, officially into their world.

Chanyeol had tears running down his face when he saw his baby for the first time, a little pink thing with a head full of dark hair, he got the honors of cutting the umbilical cord and shakily moved to sit down after that, he saw Dr. Choi smiling brightly and placed Jin-Woo belly down on Baekhyun’s bare chest, skin-to-skin was necessary for bonding between the carrier and the baby.

Baekhyun sobbed the moment Jin-Woo’s warmth came into contact with him and he shakily pushed the oxygen mask off his face so he could see his baby clearly, “Oh,” he whispered, running a light finger down his baby’s damp cheek.

Chanyeol was slouching to see his son better and hastily blinking his eyes, “Park Jin-Woo,” he whispered as his son gripped his pinky.

Baekhyun’s bottom lip wobbled as he felt happy tears burning his eyes again, “Our baby Woo-Woo.”

~~~

Jin-Woo had been taken after a few minutes of physical contact with Baekhyun to be properly cleaned up and swaddled in the baby blanket that Chanyeol’s sister had made.

While that was happening, Dr. Choi took care of the afterbirth as well, Baekhyun stomach lurched when he felt the placenta sliding down his cervix and was carefully pulled out of him; he saw Chanyeol’s face whiten when his husband saw it being placed in a metal pan.  Then Baekhyun was checked over again to make sure there wasn’t anything torn, cleaned up, given a fresh hospital gown, and a fluid IV had been inserted in the crook of his elbow.

A nurse had taught Baekhyun to properly have the baby latch on and Baekhyun released a slow breath when Jin-Woo began to feed eagerly; it was a little odd and a bit overwhelming, but relaxing in some way. 

Chanyeol loomed a bit, stroking his index-finger lightly over Jin-Woo’s dark hair; he thought he was going to start crying again from how soft it was.  He looked to Baekhyun, who hadn’t even taken his eyes off Jin-Woo the moment their baby was back in his arms, he could see the exhaustion on Baekhyun’s face, but he stubbornly kept his eyes open.

Almost five minutes later, Jin-Woo unlatched and then the nurse showed them how to burp their baby, a few steady pats between the shoulder blades until there was a hiccupping sound and she giggled before wiping Jin-Woo’s lips and passing him back to Baekhyun’s outstretched arms.

Chanyeol took a picture to send to their friends, it was an early Saturday morning, he wasn’t expecting any texts, maybe from JunMyeon as the older man had text him before Baekhyun went into full labor and hoped that everything would go well.

Baekhyun tiredly looked over to Chanyeol, “I could sleep for a week,” he croaked, voice terribly hoarse from the grunting and gasping.  He trained his exhausted gaze back down onto their son, who hadn’t even fussed except the moment he got cold, which to Baekhyun, was relatable, Jin-Woo was merely snoozing away; he was now concerned if this was actually his baby, because he had been a fussy baby in and out the womb, and from the stories Chanyeol’s mom told him, Chanyeol had been a crier too.

“You deserve it and you did so well,” Chanyeol praised, kissing his husband’s forehead.  He was also staring at Jin-Woo, taking in every soft feature of his newborn, round, rosy cheeks, a cute button nose, baby pink lips, soft eyebrows, and dark, little eyelashes, he internally bragged that he and Baekhyun could make cute babies.  “Our baby is the cutest in this hospital,” Chanyeol murmured matter-of-factly.

Baekhyun laughed softly, a smile was on his face, “All parents think that.”

“But I’m not saying it just to say it, our baby is pretty as a doll,” Chanyeol continued, nuzzling Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“You’re not wrong,” Baekhyun agreed.  He looked over to his husband, “Do you want to hold him?”

“He’s sleeping, I don’t want to bother him,” Chanyeol said quickly.

Baekhyun’s nurse popped in the moment Chanyeol said that and she grinned at Chanyeol’s small panicked answer, “I think that’s great idea, you should have some father and son bonding time, while Umma gets some sleep, yea?”

Chanyeol immediately folded at that statement.  He got up and washed his hands for the hundredth time that day before drying them and walked back over to where Baekhyun was.  He saw his exhausted husband pass Jin-Woo up the nurse, the married couple froze when Jin-Woo made soft humming sound of discomfort from being moved, but the nurse had easily scooped Jin-Woo into her arms and waited for Chanyeol to sit back down in the cushy chair next to Baekhyun’s hospital bed.

Chanyeol swallowed nervously when Jin-Woo was being situated in his arms, he was so scared that he was going to drop his son and his heart clenched to see how _tiny_ his son was when he was cradled in Chanyeol’s arms.

“A true natural at holding babies,” the nurse mused.  She smiled to Baekhyun and began to check over him, “Do you want a light sedative?  Most mothers are too keyed up to properly sleep, which is normal, but we just want to make sure that you get plenty of rest, your body needs it.”

“I’m fine,” Baekhyun responded.  “I think I’ll be able to sleep.”

“Okay, if you change your mind, just hit the nurse button over here,” she pointed to the blue button that was near Baekhyun’s shoulder.  She lowered the blinds as the sun was getting brighter, “Did you two know that you had a total solar eclipse baby?  How neat is that?” she joyfully said and then let the newly parents be.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol shared a look before giggling like children.

“He’s an EXO baby,” Chanyeol confirmed.

“Our son of the light,” Baekhyun mused, peering at their baby’s sleeping face adoringly.

Park Jin-Woo, a beautiful EXO baby, born from the stunning and talented Byun Baekhyun handsome and gifted Park Chanyeol.

“Jeez, we do make cute babies,” Baekhyun said, staring intently at Jin-Woo.

“Told you,” Chanyeol smiled proudly, preening because wow, this was their kid.

“We really should annoy our friends now, because _none_ of them will have a cuter baby than our baby,” Baekhyun stated.  He gestured to Jin-Woo, “See?  Do you see him, Chanyeol?  We _made_ that!”

“Give some them some the benefit of the doubt, won’t you?” Chanyeol chuckled at Baekhyun’s brash statement.  “You should get some sleep first and then we can send them all sorts of pictures.”

Baekhyun slumped in his hospital bed, “Fair enough.  Make sure you get some sleep too; the baby bed for Jin-Woo is next to you.”

Chanyeol looked at the clear bin that was on a metal table with wheels; he didn’t want to put Jin-Woo in it, even if the material on the inside was comfortable, but he agreed that he’d put Jin-Woo down in it after a couple minutes, he just wanted to hold Jin-Woo for a little while longer…and maybe until their son could walk on his own.

After Baekhyun had finally succumbed to a well needed rest, Chanyeol remained awake, looking down at Jin-Woo some more and then looked over to check on Baekhyun, who was so beautiful, even with messy hair and small dark shadows under his eyes.  Chanyeol kissed the top of Jin-Woo’s head, taking in the new, soft baby smell that also had a touch of Baekhyun’s soft scent, before carefully rising from his seat and put Jin-Woo in the makeshift bed, he made sure that his blanket remained snug and lightly touched his cheek, afraid to step away for even a second, but made himself move away after gazing at his newborn son for another minute.

He went back over to Baekhyun, kissed the top of his head, tucked the hospital blanket around him more firmly before heading over to the long couch that was pushed under the windows.  He draped himself across it and took one of the hospital pillows from one corner, kicked off his shoes, and dragged the blanket from their bedroom over him.

With one last final sweep of the room to make sure that his baby was sleeping comfortably and that Baekhyun was sleeping soundly as well, Chanyeol let his exhausted eyes shut.

He couldn’t wait to wake back up and join Baekhyun and Jin-Woo and start the parenting process and he knew that as long as Baekhyun was by his side, there was nothing that could stop him.

Their newest addition to their chapter of life was going to be phenomenal.


End file.
